Fire and Water - Book Two: Fire and Ice
by Hissing Willows
Summary: With Brokenstar and his cronies in exile, ShadowClan is no longer a threat. When ShadowClan's new leader demands that the three Clans work together to bring back WindClan, Fireheart must journey away from home to find a lost Clan. But as the days grow colder, and a pretty face lingers across the river, Fireheart finds himself questioning his loyalty- both to his Clan and the Code.
1. Allegiances

**THUNDERCLAN**

 **Leader:** Thistlestar—well-muscled, spiky-furred, dark gray-and-white tabby tom with gray patches mottling his white face

 **Deputy:** Tigerclaw—big dark brown tabby tom with unusually long front claws

 **Medicine Cat Apprentice (In training with Yellowfang and Mudfur):** Ravenpaw—sleek black tom with a white tail-tip

 **Warriors:**

Bluefur—blue-gray she-cat with a graying muzzle (Mother of Stonefur, Mistyfoot, and Mosstail.)

Whitestorm—big white tom

Darkstripe—sleek black-and-gray tabby tom

 _ **Apprentice, Brackenpaw**_

Willowpelt—slender, very pale silver-gray she-cat

Stonefur—stocky, thick-furred, blue-gray tom with battle-scarred ears

 _ **Apprentice, Swiftpaw**_

Mistyfoot—glossy blue-gray she-cat

Mosstail—brown tabby she-cat

 _ **Apprentice, Mistlepaw**_

Longtail—pale silver tabby tom with black stripes

Runningwind—slender, light brown tabby tom

Mousefur—small dusky brown she-cat

 _ **Apprentice, Cinderpaw**_

Graystripe—long-haired gray tom with a darker stripe running down his back

Sandbird—slender, pale ginger tabby she-cat

Dustclaw—dark brown tabby tom

 **Apprentices:**

Cinderpaw—dark gray she-cat

Brackenpaw—golden-brown tabby tom

Swiftpaw—black-and-white tom

Mistlepaw—mottled gray she-cat

 **Queens:**

Brindleface—pretty brown tabby she-cat

Frostfur—beautiful white she-cat with blue eyes (Mother of Brightkit and Thornkit)

Goldenflower—sleek, pale ginger tabby she-cat (Expecting Tigerclaw's kits)

Speckletail—old, pale tabby she-cat

 **Elders:**

Thrushpelt—sandy-gray tom with a white chest

Halftail—big dark brown tabby tom with part of his tail missing

Smallear—gray tom with small ears, eldest ThunderClan tom

Patchpelt—small black-and-white tom

One-eye—pale gray she-cat, eldest cat in ThunderClan; virtually blind and deaf

Dappletail—once-pretty tortoiseshell she-cat with a lovely dappled coat

 **RIVERCLAN**

 **Leader:** Crookedstar—huge, light brown tabby tom with a twisted jaw

 **Deputy:** Leopardfur—dappled, golden tabby she-cat with unusual golden spots

 **Medicine Cats:** Mudfur—long-haired light brown tom

Yellowfang—thick-furred, dark gray she-cat with a broad, flat face _(Training Ravenpaw of ThunderClan.)_

 **Warriors:**

Blackclaw—broad-shouldered, long-legged smoky black tom with a long tail

Voleclaw—gray tom

Beetlenose—broad-shouldered black tom (Sunfish's mate.)

Petaldust—tortoiseshell she-cat

Whiteclaw—white tom (Mallowtail's mate.)

Dawnbright—ginger-and-white she-cat

Sedgecreek—mottled ginger-brown tabby she-cat

Loudbelly—dark brown tom

Reedtail—gray tabby tom with a long, tufted tail (Skyheart's mate)

Sunfish—light golden she-cat (Mother of Vixenfrost and Grassfoot)

Frogleap—brown tom with dark striped tail

Silverstream—silver-gray she-cat with black tabby stripes

Heavystep—huge, stocky brown tom

Shadepelt—very dark gray she-cat (Vixenfrost's mate.)

Mosspelt—slim tortoiseshell she-cat

Silverthorn—silver tabby tom

Fireheart—fiery ginger tom with a nicked ear

Grassfoot—small, brown-striped tabby tom

Vixenfrost—thick-furred black she-cat (Shadepelt's mate.)

 **Apprentices:**

 _None_

 **Queens:**

Mallowtail—dark ginger-and-white she-cat (Mother to Whiteclaw's kits: Stormkit, a small tortoiseshell tom, Sparrowkit, a dark ginger-and-white she-cat, Duskkit, a black she-cat with a white tail-tip, and Cedarkit, a brown tabby tom.)

Skyheart—pale brown tabby she-cat (Mother to Reedtail's kits: Sprucekit, a brown tabby she-cat, and Pinekit, a gray tabby she-cat.)

 **Elders:**

Graypool—old, thin gray she-cat with patchy fur and a scarred muzzle

 **SHADOWCLAN**

 **Leader:** Russetstar—small, sleek dark ginger she-cat

 _ **Apprentice, Rowanpaw**_

 **Deputy:** Tallpoppy—long-legged, light-brown tabby she-cat (Mother of Flintfang's kits; Cedarpaw and Rockpaw)

 **Medicine Cat:** Runningnose—small gray-and-white tom

 **Warriors:**

Flintfang—gray tom (Tallpoppy's mate.)

Fernshade—tortoiseshell she-cat

 _ **Apprentice, Cedaraw**_

Rowanberry—cream-and-brown she-cat (Mother of Stumpytail and Cinderfur)

Nutwhisker—brown tom with amber eyes

Cinderfur—gray tom

 _ **Apprentice, Whitepaw**_

Boulder—silver tabby tom

 _ **Apprentice, Rockpaw**_

Dawncloud—small, pale ginger she-cat

Deerfoot—brown tabby tom

 _ **Apprentice, Littlepaw**_

Wetfoot—gray tabby tom

 _ **Apprentice, Oakpaw**_

Applefur—mottled brown she-cat

Ratscar—scarred dark brown tom

Snowbird—pretty white she-cat

 **Apprentices:**

Oakpaw—small, brown tom

Littlepaw—very small tabby tom

Whitepaw—black tom with white chest and paws

Cedarpaw—tiny brown tabby tom with a darker-striped tail

Rowanpaw—tiny brown tabby tom

Rockpaw—tiny light-brown tabby tom

 **Queens:**

Darkflower—black she-cat (Mother of Foxkit, a black she-cat)

 **Elders:**

Nightfur—sickly, sleek black tom

Ashfur—thin gray tom

Brightflower—black-and-white she-cat

 **WINDCLAN**

 **Leader:** Tallstar—black and white tom with a very long tail

 **Deputy** : Deadfoot—solid black tom with a twisted paw

 **Medicine Cat:** Barkface—short-tailed brown tom

 **Warriors:**

Sorrelleap—gray and brown she-cat

Pigeonwing—short-legged dark gray-and-white patched tom

Flywhisker—tall, skinny white tom

Bristlefur—black tom with a thick, messy pelt

Rabbitwing—pale brown she-cat with a white belly

Wrenflight—brown she-cat (Mother of Onewhisker)

Mudclaw—wiry dark brown mottled tabby tom

 _ **Apprentice, Webpaw**_

Tornear—wiry, lithe gray tabby tom

 _ **Apprentice, Runningpaw**_

Onewhisker—small, lean, mottled pale brown tabby tom

 _ **Apprentice, Whitepaw**_

 **Apprentices:**

Webpaw—wiry, dark gray tabby tom

Runningpaw—sleek brown she-cat

Whitepaw—white she-cat

 **Queens:**

Ashfoot—skinny gray she-cat (Mother of Eaglekit, a gray tom, and Crowkit, a dark gray tom)

Morningflower—light tortoiseshell she-cat (Mother of Gorsekit, a gray tom)

 **Elders:**

Stagleap—dark brown tom

Crowfur—dark gray tom

 **CATS OUTSIDE CLANS:**

Brokentail—massive, very dark brown tabby tom with long, ragged fur, and a thick, bent tail

Blackfoot—large white tom with jet-black paws

Tangleburr—gray and brown she-cat

Clawface—battle-scarred brown tom (Father of Stumpytail and Cinderfur.)

Stumpytail—brown tom with darker stripes and a short, stumpy tail

Barley—large black-and-white tom


	2. Chapter 1

_The full moon shone above Fourtrees,_ illuminating the clearing. The clearing was full of cats, and RiverClan stood at the top of the slope, ready to join the gathering. Loud conversation could be heard from below as the two other Clans talked in peace.

"Go on, RiverClan," Crookedstar said, and with a flick of his tail, they began to hurry down the slope towards the cats already there.

Fireheart bounded down alongside his friend, Grassfoot. _I wonder how ShadowClan has been faring,_ he thought as they slowed at the bottom. Crookedstar hurried on ahead, and headed for the Great Rock.

"Let's go!" Grassfoot purred, and flicked Fireheart with his tail. "This is my first Gathering as a warrior. I'm going to go rub it in that Dustpaw's face."

Fireheart chuckled in amusement and followed him into the crowd of cats. He noted that the ShadowClan cats, despite having been left battered and leaderless, seemed strong and well-fed now.

It had been nearly a moon since RiverClan and ThunderClan had attacked ShadowClan to drive Brokenstar and his followers from the Clans for good. They had succeeded, and Brokentail had fled the Clans, but ShadowClan had been left without a leader or deputy.

Grassfoot dodged around a cat in front of them, but Fireheart was too slow to realize they were there, and he bumped right into the cat.

"Watch where you're going!" The she-cat hissed and turned upon him. "You _dim-witted-_ … oh. Hello, Fireheart."

Fireheart blinked. "Sandpaw!" He gave her an apologetic smile. "We've got to stop meeting at Gatherings like this."

Sandpaw rolled her eyes. "More like _you_ need to start watching where you're going," she retorted. "Anyway, I'm a warrior now—my name is Sandbird."

"That's great to hear!" Fireheart purred. "Congratulations. Is Graypaw a warrior too?"

Sandbird nodded. "He's Graystripe now, and Dustclaw became a warrior with us."

"Is Graystripe here?" Fireheart asked, and glanced around. "I ought to say hello to him too."

"Nope, he's back at camp with a bellyache. Dustclaw, on the other hand, went off to antagonize some ShadowClan cats," Sandbird told him with a flick of her tail. "Looks like you're stuck here with me."

Fireheart looked back ahead to tell Grassfoot he was going to sit for awhile, but the tom had already disappeared.

"Your friend is gone," The ginger she-cat pointed out, and her eyes gleamed with humor as she looked back at him. "Looks like you're _really_ stuck with me now."

Fireheart, for once, didn't feel that overwhelming sense of awkwardness as he sat beside her. "That's alright," he said. "So long as you don't try to rip my pelt off!"

Sandbird rolled her eyes. "You kittypets are so worried about everything," she retorted, though there was no malice– only light teasing behind the comment.

"ShadowClan looks well," Fireheart commented, and inclined his head towards a sleek tortoiseshell she-cat that passed by. "I'm surprised at how quickly they turned around. It's only been a moon and they already seem so… _strong_."

"They must have a powerful new leader," Sandbird meowed and twitched her whiskers thoughtfully. "I wonder who? I don't see anyone on the Great Rock, but knowing ShadowClan, they're probably waiting until the last moment just to add to the drama of it all."

Fireheart raised a brow. "Are ThunderClan cats really so judgemental?"

Sandbird gave him an incredulous look. "Fireheart," she said, slowly, as though she was explaining something to a kit. " _All_ Clans are judgemental. We call you fish-faces, and you call us squirrel-chasers. It's just the way things work. _Besides,_ " she added with another twitch of her whiskers. "Aren't you dying to know, too?"

"Well, yes," Fireheart admitted. "It's a wonder they managed to recover so well. I suppose that means Brokentail really is gone?"

Sandbird's eyes darkened for a moment. "Evil never really dies, you know," she said quietly. "Even if Brokentail is gone, there will always be someone to cause trouble."

Fireheart glanced at her, a little surprised. "Surely you think there must be peace now, with him gone?"

Sandbird shrugged half-heartedly. "Not really. RiverClan and ThunderClan have warred over Sunningrocks for generations, and now with WindClan's territory empty, all Clans are going to want to get their paws on it." With a flick of her tail, she added, "Although I doubt Thistlestar will want it terribly. It's pretty far from ThunderClan."

Fireheart narrowed his eyes and looked up at the massive gray-furred tom on the Great Rock. _Who knows what he wants,_ Fireheart thought. _Maybe she's right—evil doesn't go away so easily._

"And then there's ShadowClan," Sandbird continued. "We don't know who their leader is now. For all we know, it could be someone just as bad as Brokenstar—or even worse."

"I hope not," Fireheart muttered darkly. "I've had enough of ShadowClan tyrants to last me nine lives."

Crookedstar let out a yowl, and conversation among the Clans began to falter. Fireheart pricked his ears and stretched up to get a better view of the third cat that was ascending the Great Rock.

A russet-furred she-cat stood, head held high, beside Crookedstar. Thistlestar dipped his head. "Welcome, Russetfur."

 _She didn't seem too bad,_ Fireheart thought, relieved. _Maybe ShadowClan will be peaceful now._

The ShadowClan she-cat nodded curtly and flicked an ear. "I am Russetstar now."

"Congratulations," Crookedstar replied smoothly. "Would you like to speak first, then?"

Russetstar sat and wrapped her tail around her paws. "Thank you. ShadowClan is faring miraculously well. Our cats are stronger than ever, and there is no trace of Brokentail or his fellow outcasts on our territory. Shortly after ThunderClan and RiverClan left us, I received my nine lives from StarClan, and I have chosen Tallpoppy as my deputy." She paused, and a few cats shouted their congratulations. A pretty tortoiseshell stood from where she had been seated, near the base of the Great Rock with Tigerclaw and Leopardfur.

"That is all we have to report," Russetstar concluded, and glanced at Crookedstar expectantly.

Crookedstar nodded at her and began his report. "RiverClan has also been doing well, despite the coming season of Leafbare. Twolegs seem to hate the cold as always, so the river has been plentiful with the last of the season's fish and we have been undisturbed by them. Skyheart recently kitted, and is now the mother of two healthy kits."

Fireheart purred a little at the announcement. Skyheart had a surprisingly easy kitting, and her two kits, Sprucekit and Pinekit, seemed quite healthy. Mudfur said it was surely a blessing from StarClan, given the approaching Leafbare. Mallowtail's kits were beside themselves with excitement, but were quickly disappointed to hear that it would be at least a moon before the pair could play with them.

 _And those kits are getting so big!_ Fireheart thought. _Surely they'll be ready to be apprenticed soon._

"We also have two new warriors," Crookedstar continued. "Grassfoot and Vixenfrost."

"Grassfoot!" Many cats cheered. "Vixenfrost!"

Crookedstar nodded once more and sat. "That will be all."

Thistlestar pricked his ears and began to speak. "ThunderClan is strong," he meowed, voice hard and cold as ever. "Though we lost our medicine cat, Spottedleaf, days before the battle with ShadowClan, one of our apprentices has stepped up to take her place. We thank RiverClan and their medicine cats for mentoring Ravenpaw in the ways of a medicine cat." His gratitude was obviously forced, but Crookedstar dipped his head in acknowledgement nonetheless.

"Spottedleaf was a great medicine cat," Sandbird murmured. "She was so kind."

Fireheart gave his companion a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry," he mewed quietly. "Her life is a great loss."

Sandbird glanced up at him, seeming almost surprised by the genuine sympathy, before she nodded once and looked back up at Thistlestar.

"That will be all," Thistlestar finished. "That brings this Gathering to an—"

"Wait!" Russetstar interrupted him, and leaped back up to her paws. "There is one more thing I wish to say."

Thistlestar narrowed his eyes with displeasure, but sat down without argument. "Very well," he grumbled.

Russetstar dipped her head to him before addressing the Clans. "Cats of all Clans," she started, "I know as well as you all that Brokenstar committed too many terrible crimes against all Clans. I, and all my Clan, lived under his leadership. We know better than most. He trained three-moon old kids until they died, just days into their apprenticeship; he made cats hardly old enough to be apprentices warriors, and he relentlessly attacked and robbed the other Clans of their land and prey."

"Get on with it!" Tigerclaw shouted, and glared up at the russet-furred leader.

Russetstar's eyes glittered with irritation as she looked down at the deputy, but didn't address his outburst. "I feel a personal responsibility to right some of his most horrible wrongs. This is why I ask that RiverClan and ThunderClan join us in searching for WindClan, so that we can bring them back to the land they belong in."

Fireheart flattened his ears against the sudden yowls of protest that erupted from the gathered cats.

"That's ridiculous!" Beetlenose hissed. "I won't risk my hide for a Clan that's good as dead!"

"This is a waste of time!" Runningwind of ThunderClan agreed. "We have better things to do!"

"We have kits to care for!"

"Apprentices to train!"

"Leafbare to prepare for!"

Russetstar lashed her tail. "As a Clan leader, you _will_ hear my words!" Protests dropped at the sudden fury in her voice. Her pelt bristled as she spoke. "There should be four Clans in the forest," she said. "There always have been. Brokenstar disturbed the ancient balance of our Clans, and we must work together to make amends."

"Must?" Thistlestar growled, ears flat.

Russetstar appeared unfazed. She raised her chin, defiant against his glowering stare. " _Must_."

Fireheart looked to Crookedstar. _What does he want?_ he wondered. _WindClan should be brought back to the forest, I think… Their absence could start another war, like Sandbird said. And they deserve to have their home back._

Crookedstar's expression was hard to read, though he didn't sound enthusiastic. "You want us to spend our time searching out WindClan?" he asked with an impassive flick of his ear. "I'm not sure my warriors would be pleased to be sent on this mission when we could be preparing for Leafbare."

Russetstar shook her head. "No. All I ask is that each Clan send one warrior. The journey would be faster that way, and the rest of us can continue our lives without much burden."

Fireheart narrowed his eyes as he caught the smallest of smirks on Thistlestar's face. "I suppose I have a warrior to spare," he drawled. "I will send one cat." _Is he planning something?_

Crookedstar looked displeased at Thistlestar's offer, as though he had expected the tom to refuse. "I will not force any of my cats to go," he decided. "If any of my warriors wish to volunteer for this, they may do so now."

Fireheart blinked at his decision, and looked around to see if any of his Clanmates would offer. _Surely someone will?_ he thought, a little uncertainly. A few long moments passed, and each RiverClan cat within eyeshot seemed to have become very interested in their own paws.

Fireheart frowned. _Will no one do it?_ He swallowed and stared back up at Crookedstar. _Then I will._ He rose to all fours, and ignored the bewildered look Sandbird shot him. "I volunteer!" He called, tail and chin raised high.

He gulped as Crookedstar's frown only seemed to deepen. "Very well," the tabby muttered. "Fireheart will go with you."

Russetstar's eyes gleamed. "Thank you," she said. "I plan to send my warrior at sun-high tomorrow."

"Our warriors can meet here, then," Thistlestar decided. "Is that all?"

Russetstar nodded and began to hurry down the Great Rock. Crookedstar, still frowning, followed her down.

"This Gathering is dismissed!" Thistlestar yowled.

Sandbird shouldered Fireheart. "You absolute mouse-brain!" she hissed. "Don't you see that's a death mission you're going on?"

Fireheart widened his eyes, mockingly. "StarClan, I could almost think you _cared_ about whether or not I made it back alive."

Sandbird bristled furiously, and Fireheart took a step back. "Shut up," she hissed. "Do whatever you want. You're a fool, anyway." She whipped around and hurried off to join her Clanmates at the edge of the clearing.

Fireheart stared after her, puzzled and surprised. _She's just like Silverthorn,_ he thought sourly. _Trying to claw my ears off one minute, and then calling me fish-brained the next._

"What were you thinking?" a voice hissed from behind him.

 _Speak of the badger…_ Fireheart thought with a wince as he turned to face a bristling silver tabby. "What is it, Silverthorn?" he snapped.

"You've got tadpoles for brains, is what!" Silverthorn retorted and lashed his tail. "It's obvious Crookedstar didn't want anyone to go."

Fireheart narrowed his eyes. "He said I would go," he replied tensely. "It's already done. If you're actually so worried about me, maybe don't be an absolute pain-in-my-tail all the time?"

Silverthorn and Fireheart had a history, and it wasn't exactly pretty. Silverthorn had antagonized him from the moment he joined RiverClan. He insulted and taunted Fireheart throughout their apprenticeship, and he'd even tried to push Fireheart into the gorge during his warrior assessment. But he hadn't been able to bring himself to do it, and had admitted to Fireheart that his father was a kittypet who'd betrayed his mother and killed her. Since then, they'd kept a shaky but steady peace between them.

Though... Fireheart still wasn't sure he would call Silverthorn a _friend._

Silverthorn curled his lip. "Maybe I wouldn't be such a _pain_ if you weren't flirting with ThunderClan she-cats and throwing your life away for a dead Clan!"

Fireheart blinked, surprised, and stammered, "I… I wasn't _flirting_! Sandbird is a friend! Or, at least, she's a better friend than _you_!"

"Hah!" Silverthorn laughed harshly. " _Please._ I used to see the way my sister looked whenever she saw Vixenfrost. If you don't see it, that just makes you a bigger fool than I thought." The silver tom turned and padded towards where RiverClan was already retreating up the slope. His tail lashed behind him furiously.

Fireheart let out a growl and followed him. _She's just a friend!_ he thought. _He's the minnow-brain. Silverthorn needs to mind his own business._

* * *

Fireheart awoke from a rough prod to his belly. He let out a groan and opened one eye to see Dawnbright standing over him with a frown.

"Get up!" she hissed, and jabbed him again. "It's nearly sun-high already, you minnow-brain."

"What?" Fireheart's head shot up, and he blinked rapidly. "But I'm meeting the others at Fourtees at sun-high!"

Dawnbright heaved a heavy sigh. "My old apprentice, sleeping like Heavystep. Who would have thought! Get up, you lazy badger—Yellowfang says you need to eat some traveling herbs."

Fireheart grunted and pushed himself to his paws. "Sorry," he muttered as he shook out his pelt. "I guess I didn't sleep well last night."

"Either way, you better hurry," Dawnbright advised him. "She said she'll send Beetlenose after you next if I don't get you there right away."

Fireheart shuddered. "I'd better go, then."

"I'm coming with you," Dawnbright told him as they left the warriors' den. "To Fourtrees, that is."

Fireheart smiled. "Really? Thank you."

Dawnbright nodded. "Of course. We haven't spent much time together since you became a warrior, and Crookedstar doesn't trust ThunderClan _or_ ShadowClan."

 _Russetstar seemed genuine,_ Fireheart thought privately. _Why is everyone always so mistrustful? Brokenstar was horrible, but not every ShadowClan cat can be like him. Right?_

Fireheart ducked inside the medicine cats' den. Yellowfang glanced up and narrowed her eyes. "Well!" she huffed. "It's about time. I'll be amazed if they haven't already wandered off without you." She pushed a bundle of herbs towards him. "Eat these."

Fireheart grimaced before he bent down and chewed on the herbs. He had to hold back the urge to fetch as the bitter taste hit his tongue, but he choked the herbs down anyway. "Thanks, I guess."

Yellowfang flicked her tail. "Those will keep your strength up for the day, at least. Now get going, and come back in one piece."

Fireheart hesitated as he turned away. "Do you… do you really think I can find WindClan?"

Yellowfang gave him a rare, small smile. "I believe cats don't give you enough credit, Fireheart. Now go—they won't wait for you."

Fireheart flashed her a grin and headed back out of the den. Dawnbright jerked her head towards the camp entrance. "Let's get a move on."

His former mentor headed right for the reeds, not giving Fireheart a moment to say any goodbyes. Though he wasn't sure who he would say goodbye to—patrols had already gone out, and for the most part, camp was empty. Fireheart followed close behind and exchanged a nod with Frogleap as they passed him through the reeds.

"Let's head for the bridge," Dawnbright suggested. "That'll be the fastest way."

Fireheart nodded and fell in step beside her. "Hopefully we won't be too late."

Dawnbright let out a purr of amusement. "Perhaps if you'd woken up earlier we wouldn't have to find out!" She flicked him with her tail affectionately. "I'll have you know that I'm proud of you, though. You've hardly been a warrior for two moons and you're already off on a mission to save a Clan. StarClan, I still remember when you were just a kit and I was dragging you into the river!" She smiled fondly. "You've always been quite brave."

Fireheart sighed. "Not everyone thinks so. Silverthorn nearly ripped my ears off last night and called me a fool."

Dawnbright twitched her whiskers. "You may think Silverthorn hates you, Fireheart, but he gave that up a long time ago. He cares about you, same as any Clanmate."

 _She's right,_ Fireheart thought. _Silverthorn and I stopped being rivals moons ago. I haven't hated him for a long while, either._

"He's hard to get along with, though," Dawnbright went on. "Silverthorn's never really had any friends. His sisters have always been friendly and likable, but Silverthorn is a bitter cat, and I don't know that he can change as long as he remains so lonely."

Fireheart blinked, and for a moment, felt a prick of guilt. _I never thought of it like that._ "He told me about his parents," he meowed, solemnly. "I'm not surprised he's so bitter."

Dawnbright raised a brow. "I'm surprised he told you that. RiverClan knows all about it, but… it's not exactly something we speak about anymore."

"That's why he hated me," Fireheart explained. "He despised kittypets because of his father. I think… that whenever he looked at me, he only thought of what his father did."

"Brave _and_ wise," Dawnbright chuckled. In a more serious note, she added, "Just… give him a chance, will you? I think the two of you could be good friends if you got to know one another."

 _I could_ always _use more friends in RiverClan,_ Fireheart thought. Even though he had trained in and fought for RiverClan, many cats still disliked him. _Silverthorn isn't half-bad when we aren't fighting._ "I will, when I get back," he promised.

They went on in a comfortable silence. The day was actually pretty lovely, aside from the coming journey. It was certainly one of the last few warmer days of the season, before the temperature would begin to drop for Leafbare. The leaves of the beech and willow trees along the river had dried and become yellow, gold, and orange, and covered the ground underpaw. And the river was still full and beautiful as ever, much to all of RiverClan's joy.

They soon reached the stone twoleg bridge that spanned the distance to the other shore. Together, they padded across the warm surface towards the other side.

Fireheart blinked as he spotted two she-cats a little ways down the dirt twoleg path before them. "Who's there?" he called and raised his tail.

The she-cats stopped and turned to look at him. He quickly recognized them as Bluefur and Mistyfoot of ThunderClan.

Bluefur twitched her whiskers calmly. "Are you Fireheart? Thistlestar sent me to meet you and another at Fourtrees."

Fireheart picked up the pace to catch up to the senior warrior. "That's me," he meowed. "You're Bluefur, right? It's nice to meet you."

Bluefur dipped her head, before she leaned forward to sniff him. "The kittypet warrior," she remarked, though her voice was even, and without contempt. "I've been curious about the cat that escaped Thistlestar as a kit. Well met, Fireheart."

Fireheart gave his chest an embarrassed lick. Her statement came off as an odd form of praise, and it was nice not to be insulted for his kittypet heritage.

"Shall we?" Mistyfoot asked, and gestured towards the path with her tail. "I'm sure whoever ShadowClan sent is impatient, knowing them."

"That's what _I've_ been trying to say," Dawnbright exclaimed, with a roll of her eyes. "Let's get going."

They fell in step beside the two ThunderClan cats, who remained silent as they walked down the dirt path. Fireheart glanced at Bluefur a few times, and considered trying to make conversation, but didn't say anything. _It'll be good having such an experienced warrior with us,_ he thought. _I'm sure I can learn a lot from her._

The four great oaks soon loomed above them, and the cats veered off the path and headed for the sacred meeting place. As they reached the edge of the slope, Bluefur stopped, and touched Mistyfoot's shoulder with her tail tip. "Go home," she meowed. "I'll be fine from here."

Fireheart noticed that Mistyfoot's eyes glittered with worry. "Alright," she relented. "But you take care of yourself. I _know_ you'll come home. ThunderClan needs you."

Bluefur's voice was low and hard as she replied, "I know."

Fireheart briefly wondered if there was a greater, unspoken reason that Mistyfoot felt Bluefur was so needed in ThunderClan, but he thought better than to stick his muzzle where it didn't belong.

Mistyfoot pressed her nose to her mother's cheek before she turned away and started back for ThunderClan.

Bluefur led the way down the slope towards the clearing. Two cats sat beneath the Great Rock, and both looked up silently as the trio approached. Both were young, certainly younger than Fireheart, and while Fireheart wasn't sure who the white she-cat was, he recognized the tom beside her as Ratscar.

The white she-cat bounced up onto her paws. "Oh, hello!" she chirped. "Are you all coming with me? I'm Snowbird! Isn't this all so _exciting_?"

Fireheart swallowed. _This might be a long journey after all._ "Er… I'm Fireheart."

Dawnbright twitched her whiskers and gave Fireheart an amused, almost teasing glance. "And I'm leaving. Good luck, you three. Come home soon." She turned away and hurried off, and Fireheart felt even more awkward.

"Oh! Oh!" Snowbird exclaimed. "I know about _you_. You saved Cedarpaw once! And aren't you a kittypet? What's that like? Did you really eat rabbit droppings and badger dung? Did you—"

"We ought to be going," Bluefur cut her off, clearly not pleased with their traveling companion. "I'm Bluefur."

Ratscar narrowed his eyes and glared back and forth from Fireheart to Bluefur. "Hurt my sister and I'll shred you," he swore, before he rose stiffly and padded away. "See you, Snowbird."

"Bye!" Snowbird purred. "Oh, this is just _so_ exciting! A real adventure! I'm so glad Russetstar let me go. I can't wait to find WindClan! Are they scary? Are they—"

Snowbird continued to chatter like a noisy bird, and Fireheart and Bluefur exchanged an already weary glance. _This is going to be a_ very _long trip._


	3. Chapter 2

**Welcome back! I'm so glad that y'all are excited for this story- I am too!. Something I forgot to mention last time is that for this book only, there will be a second POV. I won't say anything yet, but it'll be revealed either next chapter or the chapter after, depending on when I get their chapter finished. Thanks as always to the awesome KatieK101 for her beta skills!**

 **Reviews:**

 **Seeker3: Happy birthday! Haha, I'm glad someone likes Snowbird. She's a nuisance but I can't but love her.**

 **Mistress1296: Soon, very soon!**

 **Foreststar of WindClan: Likely a quarter to a third of the story. As for Bluefur, her place on the journey will be discussed soon enough, but I'll let you speculate until then!**

 **Hatakefire: No, Shadepelt and Vixenfrost are mates, that wasn't a mistake. Domesticated cats don't form same-gender relationships, but they also don't have _any_ long-term relationships with the cats they mate with. The cats in warriors are so humanized to the point where Vicky's called them "furry little humans". Otherwise, thanks! Yeah, considering Nightstar had a chronic illness, it didn't make sense to me for him to be leader.**

 **Thanks to everyone else who reviewed!**

* * *

 _The strong wind buffeted Fireheart as_ they padded through the tall grasses of WindClan's moorland territory. Fireheart hadn't been here much, but he'd never enjoyed it—while there were some pretty wildflowers that didn't grow in RiverClan, it was otherwise sparse and exposed. There were very few trees, and the tall grass and clumps of heather and gorse made it hard to see.

It didn't help that he had poor company, either.

It had only been about an hour or so since Fireheart, Bluefur, and Snowbird had met at Fourtrees. Bluefur had remained stonily silent the entire time, while Snowbird continued to bombard them both with questions and remark about how _exciting_ it was that they were going on an adventure.

"Wow," Snowbird gasped, and Fireheart resisted the urge to groan. "WindClan's territory is just so _big_! It must be _so_ exciting to run around chasing hares all day on the moor like this. Have you ever caught a hare? I was chasing one, once, but it dove into its burrow and I ran right into a tree and—"

Bluefur lashed her tail irritably. "Lower your voice," she ordered, sharply. "We've nearly reached WindClan's camp. Something - _or someone_ \- may have taken up their camp in their absence."

" _Wow_ ," Snowbird whispered. "That's so–"

"Exciting?" Fireheart remarked dryly and flattened his ears. _StarClan help me._

Bluefur snorted and pulled ahead to take the lead as they continued to trudge through the tall, dry grasses. To her credit, Snowbird _did_ stop talking, but Fireheart put a fox-length of distance between them as she began to flick her tail wildly about in anticipation.

 _She's hardly old enough to be a seasoned apprentice, let alone a warrior,_ Fireheart thought, and frowned as he watched her bound after Bluefur, wide-eyed. _Why would Russetstar send such a young cat?_

They reached the top of the slope to find a steep dip in the ground that must have been WindClan's camp. But now, it was in a tattered disarray. One great stone sat in the center of the camp, and to it side was the rotting remains of what must have been their fresh-kill pile. Moss was scattered outside burrows in the walls of the slope, and flies buzzed around two corpses of long-dead cats.

Snowbird gasped, low and quiet. "Are they… are they…?"

Bluefur nodded solemnly. "They've been dead for a long time. WindClan must have left in a great hurry if they'd leave their dead behind." She curled her lip in displeasure. "The least Brokenstar could have done was had his warriors bury them." She led the way down the short slope into WindClan's camp. "Let's have a look around," Bluefur meowed. "Keep your wits about you."

"Why is _she_ leading us?" Snowbird whispered to Fireheart. She looked up at him. "Don't _you_ want to lead?"

Fireheart looked away uncomfortably. "Bluefur has more experience than I do," he replied. "If she wants to lead, I don't care."

Snowbird hummed thoughtfully, but didn't press him any further.

Fireheart watched as Bluefur approached one of the bodies. She looked like she was trying to conceal her anger as she stared down at the stiff corpse. He padded after her, wrinkling his nose at the stench of death and decay. "Did you know them?" he asked.

Bluefur shook her head. "I don't recognize the other, but this cat was one of the oldest elders in the Clans. To die this way, and be left out for the carrion…" she let out a low growl. "It's the greatest disrespect."

Snowbird padded closer and gagged dramatically. "Ew. That's so gross. And the _smell–_!"

Bluefur whirled upon the young she-cat. "Show some respect," she spat. "This cat died because of _your_ Clan's attack. She was left to _rot_ because of ShadowClan's disregard for the warrior code."

Snowbird recoiled as though Bluefur had struck her. Her head and tail hung low with shame. "I-I'm sorry…"

Fireheart frowned, uncomfortable with Bluefur's harshness. _She may have a warrior's name, but she's old enough to be a young apprentice. She probably wasn't even in the battle, and if she was, she would have only been a kit._ He turned to Bluefur. "She didn't know better," he said firmly. "Give her a break. Snowbird is young."

"Too young to be on a mission like this," Bluefur retorted sharply. She looked away and stared back down at the elder's body. "She deserves a proper burial."

"WindClan can bury her when we bring them home," Fireheart insisted. "They might not like to know we interfered with their ceremonies."

Bluefur lashed her tail. "They might not like coming home to rotting crow-food, either."

Fireheart glanced at the sky. _We're going to waste time arguing like this,_ he thought. "If we go now, we'll be able to cover more ground before nightfall. The sooner we find WindClan, the sooner we can all go home. For all we know, they're just outside of their borders. But if we stay around here, we're just wasting daylight."

"I think we should go," Snowbird chimed in. "I want to find WindClan!"

Bluefur flattened her ears, and Fireheart thought she would refuse. "Fine," she growled. "Let's go." The blue-gray warrior padded past the two younger cats and headed back for the slope where they first had come into the camp.

"See?" Snowbird's eyes gleamed as she whispered, "You _can_ lead." Without waiting for a reply, she hurried after Bluefur.

Fireheart frowned. _How are we going to ever bring WindClan home if we can't even work together?_

* * *

The journey up the moor was coldly silent. Not even Snowbird had a comment to contribute.

Bluefur led the way again, but kept ahead of Fireheart and Snowbird by a few paces. She had been visibly irritated since they'd left WindClan's camp, and Fireheart had a feeling she would continue to be for the better part of the trip.

After some time, Bluefur stopped. "I know a friend that lives a little ways ahead. We can stay with him for the night."

Snowbird, discomfort with Bluefur forgotten, bounced towards her. "Who is he?" she asked. "Is he nice? Is he a rogue? Why are you friends with a rogue? Are you in l—"

"That's enough!" Bluefur cut her off, sharply, and bristled her fur. "You need to learn to keep your muzzle out of other cats' business."

Snowbird blinked rapidly, as though surprised by Bluefur's cold reply. "But I just want to know—"

"You'll meet him when we get there," Bluefur said, her tone indicating that she didn't want to continue discussing it.

Fireheart sighed heavily, but said nothing. _Hopefully Bluefur's friend is more sociable than she is._

As they reached the top of the slope, a large red barn came into view. Bluefur nodded towards the structure. "He lives in there."

Fireheart twitched his whiskers as he gazed upon the barn curiously. _Is he a kittypet?_ the tom wondered. _It's been some time since I've seen another one._ But Fireheart had a feeling Bluefur would appreciate his questions about as much as she did Snowbird's, so he told himself he would just wait and see.

They shortly reached the large barn, and Bluefur padded up to the wide, open doors. "Hello?" she called. "Barley? Are you here?"

There was a heavy thump as a big black-and-white tom jumped down from the rafters above and landed on the hay-covered floor. He raised his tail in a friendly manner and beamed. "Well, if it isn't Bluefur! It's been moons since I've seen you. What are ThunderClan doing around these parts?"

"You look well, Barley," Bluefur said with a small smile. "But these cats aren't ThunderClan. ShadowClan, RiverClan, and ThunderClan have all agreed to work together to find WindClan."

"I'm Snowbird!" the young she-cat told him, cheerfully. "I'm from ShadowClan!"

Fireheart stepped forward and gave the tom a friendly blink. "And I'm Fireheart of RiverClan," he meowed. "Bluefur told us you might have shelter for the night."

Barley nodded easily. "Oh, sure, I never mind visitors. Gets a bit lonely up here." He glanced back at Bluefur and frowned. "Shame about WindClan, though. I saw them all flee that night, but I wasn't sure what caused them to leave in such a hurry. I went to check out their camp the next day, and it was empty and reeking of ShadowClan."

"Brokenstar chased them out," Bluefur explained. "But he's been driven from the Clans for good."

"Hmm," Barley hummed. "That's good to hear." He shook his head and gestured for them to follow with a flick of his tail. "But let's not stand around chatting. Come in! Help yourself to the hay, and there's plenty of mice around if you're hungry."

Fireheart felt at ease with the friendly tom, and followed him into the barn. Piles of hay were scattered throughout the building, and Fireheart could smell the warm scent of mouse throughout the barn. His mouth watered at the thought of food—he'd been in such a hurry that he hadn't eaten this morning, and they hadn't stopped to hunt all day.

Barley chuckled. "I can tell you're hungry. Go on, hunt all you like. There's enough mice here to feed all four Clans twice!"

Fireheart swiped his tongue across his lips at the thought of fresh-kill. "I'll have to take you up on that!"

Barley headed towards the middle of the barn, where most of the hay was piled. "Come on, Bluefur, let's catch up. I've got to hear about the latest ThunderClan drama!"

Bluefur snorted and shook her head, but followed her old friend. Snowbird, eyes wide with excitement, hurried off to their right. Fireheart parted his jaws to taste the air. The scent of mouse was unusually heavy in the air, and it was hard to pinpoint one scent.

Thankfully, Fireheart caught sight of a movement near one of the walls and dropped into a crouch. A mouse had ventured out from the safety of the wooden walls and was scurrying about the hay. He crept forward, a little uncertain. Most of his hunting involved diving in the river or scooping up fish from the shore—hunting this way was not his forte, and he felt a little ungainly.

As he got within four fox-lengths of the mouse, it's head shot up, and it began to dart away. "Frog-dung!" he cursed, and leaped for the rodent. He missed, and it raced for a pile of straw.

Suddenly, Snowbird shot out from behind a bale of hay and pounced perfectly. She crushed the mouse beneath her paws and killed it with a swift bite. She looked over at Fireheart and beamed.

Fireheart blinked in surprise. "How did you do that?"

Snowbird sat down and drew her tongue across a dainty white paw. "ShadowClan are the best stalkers in all the forest," she explained. "We hunt in the middle of the night so we can perfect sneaking up on prey." She grinned again and inclined her head towards the mouse. "You can have this one! Tallpoppy's been saying I need to practice hunting anyway." Fireheart watched, a little dumbfounded, as she rose and padded off again, plumy tail raised high in the air.

* * *

Fireheart settled down in the hay nest that Barley had made him. Snowbird was already fast asleep beside him, and Bluefur and Barley were curled up a little ways away, still deep in quiet conversation. He could catch some of what they were saying, and though he felt a little bad about eavesdropping, Fireheart angled his ears to hear their words better.

"...and Tigerclaw just went along with it?" Barley asked. "Doesn't sound like him.

"Oh, he was furious," Bluefur meowed. "Wanted to shred Ravenpaw, but Thistlestar promised him another apprentice when Frostfur's youngest kits are old enough."

 _They must be talking about Ravenpaw being a medicine cat,_ Fireheart realized. _I imagine Tigerclaw_ would _be pretty upset._

"And your kits?" Barley asked. "How are they?"

Bluefur purred quietly. "Stonefur is a greatly respected warrior, and Mistyfoot has just settled down with Runningwind. Mosstail finally got her first apprentice. They're all doing great."

"What about that Oakheart?"

The question startled Fireheart. _Oakheart? What about Oakheart?_ Fireheart had never known the former RiverClan deputy, but he had led a battle against ThunderClan to save Fireheart's life.

Bluefur was silent for a few moments before she replied, "He's dead," she whispered, voice soft. "He died a few moons ago in a fight with one of our patrols. Apparently it was no cat's fault—he was crushed under a boulder."

Barley's voice was quiet and sympathetic as he replied, "I'm sorry, Bluefur."

Fireheart flattened his ears and curled up into a tight ball, feeling very much like he had just heard something neither he, nor any cat, was ever supposed to hear.


	4. Chapter 3

**Reviews:**

 **Eaglewhisper: I'm planning on having this be a six part series for every book in the original series! As for Broken, I'm not honestly sure- I haven't officially cancelled the story, but I don't have plans to continue it soon. I'd like to, but I haven't been able to get myself to write it in a way that I like. So, I am thinking about it, but it's not VERY likely that it will be continued. And thank you!**

* * *

 _ **Sandbird**_

 _Sandbird padded from the warriors' den_ with a wide yawn. Tigerclaw was in the center of camp, already organizing patrols. For a moment, the ginger she-cat considered heading for the fresh-kill pile, but she didn't feel a pang of hunger yet, and the pile was looking quite small at the moment. She instead arched her back in a stretch before she padded towards Tigerclaw to join the other warriors who were awaiting orders.

"Willowpelt, Whitestorm, and Darkstripe," Tigerclaw called. "Take the ShadowClan border. Bring Brackenpaw." His tail swept across the grassy ground as he glanced thoughtfully around the gathered warriors. "Mosstail, lead a hunting party to Snakerocks, and I want Longtail and Mousefur to take Cinderpaw to Tallpines."

His dark amber gaze fell upon Sandbird, and the ginger she-cat pricked her ears. "Sandbird…" he mused. "You'll escort Ravenpaw to RiverClan today."

Sandbird wrinkled her nose distastefully, but didn't argue. "Yes, Tigerclaw." She turned away and flicked her tail in irritation. _I should have a real warrior's task, not some medicine cat escort detail!_ It wasn't that she disliked Ravenpaw, but she certainly wasn't up to spending the day in RiverClan, being stared at by fat cats who reeked of fish and listening to a pair of old medicine cats drone on about herbs.

On her way to Ravenpaw's den, she came across Dustclaw. The brown tabby stopped in front of her. "Taking Ravenpaw to RiverClan?" he asked, a teasing note in his voice.

"Unfortunately," Sandbird sighed, and rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you're going to be off leading some big patrol?"

"No, I'm free until dusk," Dustclaw meowed with a flick of his ears. "I can come with you."

Sandbird frowned doubtfully. " _You_ want to come with _Ravenpaw_ and I and sit in RiverClan all day?" Dustclaw and Ravenpaw were brothers, but they'd never gotten along. They were complete opposites- Dustclaw was fierce, hot-headed, and quick to anger, but Ravenpaw was quiet and logical and quite sensitive. She couldn't quite say that they _fought_ , but it was more that Dustclaw was often rude and shrewd to Ravenpaw, and Ravenpaw would get his feelings hurt and sulk.

Dustclaw snorted. "Trust me, I'm not going for Ravenpaw."

Sandbird narrowed her eyes in the slightest, but shrugged. "If you want to spend your day bored out of your mind, be my guest."

"I'll be waiting by the entrance," Dustclaw meowed with a flick of his tail, and brushed past her to head off.

Sandbird padded into the medicine cat den. "Ravenpaw?" she called. "Dustclaw and I are taking you to RiverClan."

The sleek black tom sat up from where he had been crouched over an assortment of herbs. "Tigerclaw seems to think I've forgotten how to fight," Ravenpaw huffed. "I can defend myself just fine!" he shook his head impatiently. "Sorry, Sandbird. Let's go! I've been waiting all morning for Tigerclaw to give me an escort so I can leave."

Sandbird twitched her whiskers. "Well, let's leave, then. The sooner we get this over with, the better."

She turned around led the way out of the den. They crossed camp and headed for the gorse tunnel, where Dustclaw was already standing stiffly as he waited for them.

Graystripe was sitting on sentry duty, and he grinned at Sandbird and Ravenpaw as they approached. "Hey, say hello to Fireheart for me, will you?"

Sandbird was about to agree, but stopped as she remembered that he had volunteered to find WindClan. She scowled and instead replied, "He's not there. He's going on that mission to bring WindClan back."

Graystripe swallowed, and Sandbird noticed the glimmer of worry in his eyes. "Isn't that where Thistlestar sent Bluefur?"

"Yes," Sandbird nodded, eyes narrowed. "I told the mouse-brain he was throwing away his life, but he wouldn't listen."

Graystripe shifted his paws with a frown. "They better make it and come home _soon_."

"Can we go, or you going to keep gossiping like a pair of doves?" Dustclaw grumbled.

Sandbird privately agreed with Graystripe, but not wishing to further irritate Dustclaw, meowed a quick goodbye to the gray tom as they padded through the gorse tunnel.

"Graystripe's right," Ravenpaw murmured to Sandbird. "There's no telling what Thistlestar will do now that Bluefur's gone."

Sandbird nodded silently. Thistlestar had been a leader hungry for power and eager to spill blood for as long as any cat could remember. In his older age, he became a seasoned warrior and considered their battles more carefully, but that didn't mean ThunderClan wasn't fighting. Before the battle when RiverClan last claimed Sunningrocks, the two Clans had clashed constantly. Battles were fought every few days, and both sides lost too many lives. ThunderClan was smaller than it had been in seasons.

But there were times when Bluefur had been able to sway the Clan away from wanting to fight. She could never change Thistlestar's mind alone, but she would go quietly around ThunderClan, mentioning how dangerous the battle would be, or reminding the warriors of the lives they had just lost. She had a pawful of close supporters—Sandbird's father, Redtail, Willowpelt, Stonefur, and Mistyfoot. Whitestorm was close to her, too, and agreed with what she said, but being Thistlestar's son put him in an awkward position. It didn't help Bluefur that Redtail had died a few moons ago.

Dustclaw led the way up the ravine, a few long paces ahead of Ravenpaw and Sandbird. Though it was sunny, it was a cool day in the shade-covered forest. The grass and surrounding bracken had started to wither and brown, a clear sign that Leafbare was on the horizon.

"How's your training going?" Sandbird asked, with a glance at her companion.

Ravenpaw smiled. "It's actually been great. Yellowfang and Mudfur are both so wise, and they've taught me a lot already. I was a little worried that it would be difficult… but it's all been so easy so far. I just can't wait for the half-moon so I can finally meet StarClan."

Sandbird was quiet for a moment, before she asked, "Is it hard, not being a warrior?" _I can't imagine giving up the life of a warrior to sort herbs all day. Running beside my Clanmates, hunting for fresh-kill, defending our land… it's not something I'd give up in a heartbeat._

Ravenpaw shrugged. "Well… I do miss some things. Hunting with you all was fun, and I wasn't bad at it."

Sandbird snorted and flicked him with her tail. "I'd say!" The ginger she-cat chuckled as a smile tugged at her lips. "Remember that time you caught an adder?"

Ravenpaw let out a purr. "Even Tigerclaw couldn't complain!" The black tom sighed a little and glanced up at the sky. "There are other things, though. Being a medicine cat is lonely. I train alone, I gather herbs alone, and I sleep in a den alone. I guess I'll always be alone, in a way."

"That's not true," Sandbird argued, and frowned lightly. "You still have friends."

Ravenpaw shook his head. "I'll never have another cat who understands what my life is, though. When I was training to be a warrior, I thought everyone was more or less the same and fit in somewhere. But I stand alone now. In some ways, I have more responsibilities than Tigerclaw—or I will, at least." He glanced at Sandbird, and his voice was low as he added, "I'll never have a mate."

There was a certain intensity in his eyes that made Sandbird look away uncomfortably. She wasn't oblivious to the feelings that both Ravenpaw and Dustclaw seemed to have for her, although Dustclaw was thankfully less obvious about it. Sandbird could spend time with him without being reminded of his crush. Dustclaw was hot-headed and could be brash and didn't focus on his own feelings much, but Ravenpaw had a more quiet, thoughtful nature, and conveyed his feelings without having to say them.

"Yeah," Sandbird muttered. "That's a shame." She moved a little faster to catch up to Dustclaw. The tom flicked an ear in acknowledgement, but remained silent. _At least Dustclaw knows when to be quiet,_ Sandbird thought, a little sourly.

The walk to Sunningrocks was quiet. Dustclaw and Sandbird didn't speak, and remained in a comfortable silence, while Ravenpaw seemed content to stay a few paces behind.

 _I wonder if he expects Dustclaw and I to become mates,_ Sandbird thought to herself. _As if!_

When they reached the sun-warmed, rocky shore, Ravenpaw pulled ahead and headed for the stepping stones. "Come on!" he meowed. "Stepping stones are faster than going all the way to the twoleg bridge."

Sandbird curled her lip slightly. She wasn't fond of crossing the river. RiverClan's camp always remained unattacked for one reason—the river. Arguably the safest camp in the forest, no Clan had good reason to attack the heart of RiverClan. ShadowClan was too far to really benefit from a full-scale raid, the gorge separated WindClan from any quick route to RiverClan, and the river was a strong barrier against ThunderClan. While the twoleg bridge served as a possible route, it was too much of a detour for a retreat, and a raiding patrol could easily be cut off from escape. Thistlestar had attempted crossing the stepping stones to attack, once, but they'd been quickly met by furious defenders before they all get across, and an apprentice had drowned in the mad rush back across the stones. That was the first and last time that Thistlestar would attempt an attack on RiverClan's camp.

Ravenpaw led the way to the river's edge, and without waiting for his companions, leaped from the shore and landed easily on the first exposed stone.

"Wait up, will you?" Dustclaw grumbled with a flick of his tail.

Sandbird sighed and brushed past him to jump to the first stone after Ravenpaw moved. They quickly crossed the stones, and Sandbird couldn't be more relieved when they reached the other side.

Two young warriors upriver, whom Sandbird hadn't spotted before, came towards them, hackles raised. She recognized the black she-cat, Vixenfrost, but couldn't put a name to her gray-furred companion.

The gray she-cat touched her tail to Vixenfrost's shoulder. "Wait," she cautioned her. "It's just Ravenpaw."

Vixenfrost flicked her tail. "Why did Thistlestar feel the need to send two warriors?" she asked, with an almost mocking tone. "You'd think he's worried that after a moon we're going to steal away your medicine cat."

Dustclaw bared his teeth. "I just came along because I _love_ listening to RiverClan make themselves sound like tough mouse-brains."

Vixenfrost curled her lip, but Ravenpaw intervened smoothly. "Nice to see you, Shadepelt!" he purred. "How's the fishing going?"

Shadepelt gave the medicine cat apprentice a tight-lipped smile. "It's alright. Sparrowkit and Cedarkit have missed you. I'm sure they'll be glad to see you."

Vixenfrost shook her head. "Let's just bring them back to camp and get back to fishing. I'm _going_ to catch that massive carp."

Shadepelt gave her an affectionate glance. "Whatever you want." She turned around and flicked her tail for the ThunderClan to follow.

Vixenfrost waited for the trio to pass her before she took up the rear. Sandbird had to force herself to keep her fur flat. _RiverClan are our enemies,_ she thought uncomfortably. _They've_ killed _our Clanmates, and now we have to be civil so they'll train Ravenpaw._

The walk towards the gap in the reeds was short. Shadepelt led the way down the short slope, and they were in the camp of RiverClan.

Sandbird was glad to see that, for the most part, the camp was relatively empty. Three warriors were picking through the fresh-kill pile while four kits tumbled around in front of what she assumed was the nursery.

Yellowfang, a ragged gray she-cat, ducked out of the medicine cats' den and fixed her gaze on the ThunderClan cats. "Ravenpaw!" she barked out. "About time, I'd say! Get your lazy pelt over here. We'll be checking up on Skyheart's kits today."

Despite the she-cat's nearly scathing tone, Ravenpaw just laughed and nodded. "Alright, I'm coming!"

Sandbird sat down, feeling quite awkward with the stares the few warriors were giving her. Dustclaw sat beside her, ears flat, clearly just as comfortable as she was.

"So…" Dustclaw mumbled. "Nice weather we're having?"

Sandbird sighed and rolled her eyes. _Small talk. Great. This is going to be the longest day of my life._

* * *

It had been a few hours since they'd arrived in RiverClan. Though no cat had tried to talk to them, the silent stares continued and only increased as some cats returned from patrols.

Sandbird had laid down in the sun, and she had decided that she might as well groom herself thoroughly if she had to waste her day like this. As she was cleaning the dirt from her claws on a forepaw, she felt a weight slam heavily on her tail. The she-cat bristled and looked over her shoulder to see a ginger-and-white she-kit, who had pounced right on her tail. "Excuse me?" Sandbird growled. "Didn't your mother teach you not to go pouncing on strangers' tails?"

The she-cat let out a squeak and jumped back. "S-sorry!" she blurted. "Cedarkit dared me! He said ThunderClan have too many acorns in their brains and you wouldn't notice."

Sandbird flattened her ears and curled her tail towards herself. _What a rude kit!_ "Well, I _did_."

The kit crept closer to her. "Are you Ravenpaw's friend? He's nice. He gave me a honeycomb once!"

Sandbird twitched her whiskers. _She's awfully curious._ "You could say that," she replied coolly. "What's your name?"

The kit seemed to brighten. "I'm Sparrowkit!" she chirped. "Are you a warrior? Did you fight ShadowClan with us?"

"Yes and yes," she meowed. "I got my warrior name after fighting in that battle—I'm Sandbird."

"Wow," Sparrowkit breathed. "I can't _wait_ to be a warrior. I'm not scared of _anything_!"

Sandbird chuckled, her irritation with the kit gone. "That's just foolish," she said. "Even the best warrior has fears. If you're not afraid of the right things, you'll just get into trouble."

"But Fireheart _always_ saves me," Sparrowkit argued. "He's the best!"

Sandbird blinked. "Oh?"

Sparrowkit nodded solemnly, eyes wide. "One time, me 'n Stormkit wanted to explore, but we got chased by a dog! But Fireheart and Silverthorn fought him and scared him off. And another time, I wanted to swim farther than the cattails—because those are _so_ boring—but the current was really strong! Mama says I could've drowned, but Fireheart jumped in and saved me. He's my best friend!"

Sandbird raised her brows, a little surprised. _I never realized Fireheart was… brave._ She shook her head a little. "What if Fireheart isn't there to save you?" she challenged.

"Oh, he'll always save me," Sparrowkit said, quite matter-of-factly.

Sandbird laughed a little, but didn't argue. _She's still a kit,_ she thought. _She'll grow up some day._

A muscular silver tabby padded up to them, lip curled in the slightest. "Sparrowkit, is she bothering you?" he growled.

Sparrowkit blinked up at him. "No!" she meowed. "We were talking about Fireheart."

The silver tabby glared fiercely at Sandbird. "Were you, now?" he glanced back down at Sparrowkit. "Go see if Graypool has a story. Even if we're not tearing out each other's fur, ThunderClan are our enemies." He gave Sandbird a scornful look. "Just because we decided to do them a _favor_ doesn't make us friends."

Sparrowkit shrugged, but stood up and started off towards another den. "Bye!"

The tom turned his glare back upon Sandbird. "And _you_ ," he growled. "Stay away from Fireheart. In fact, just stay away from RiverClan."

Sandbird curled her lip. _What's his name?_ she thought to herself. "Silverthorn, right?" she replied with an irritated flick of her tail. "Stay out of my business. Trust me, I want nothing more than to get out of your reeking camp."

Silverthorn snorted and tossed his head. "Yeah, right. Quit hanging around Fireheart every chance you get. I know _exactly_ what you're after and he doesn't need some ThunderClan flea-pelt distracting him."

 _Excuse me?_ Sandbird's hackles began to rise as she sat up. "How dare you!" she spat furiously. "Like you said, we're enemy warriors. I don't need my loyalty questioned by some fat, smelly excuse for a _Half-Clanner_!"

Silverthorn let out a ferocious snarl, and before the tabby could brace herself, he attacked. The RiverClan tom launched himself forward and knocked her onto her back. Sandbird screeched as keen claws raked down her shoulder and tore it open. She struggled to retaliate, but she was pinned at an awkward angle with both hind legs twisted to one side, away from the reach of his soft belly.

To Sandbird's relief, Dustclaw took only a moment to yowl furiously and leap for Sandbird's assailant. _Thank StarClan!_ she thought, relieved, as Dustclaw slammed full-force into Silverthorn and bowled him over. The two tumbled away, over and over, as they spat and tore at each other.

An enraged yowl sounded throughout the camp. "Stop this!"

Sandbird sat up shakily to see Crookedstar standing in the mouth of his den, features twisted with anger. Dustclaw and Silverthorn scrambled away from each other, ears flat and tails bushed up.

The massive RiverClan leader stepped slowly towards the warriors. "I welcome you into my Clan, after all ThunderClan has done to us, and this is how you repay our generosity?" he let out a snarl. "Get out. Take your apprentice and leave. My patience for ThunderClan has been worn thin, and this is the last time I invite you into my camp. Get _out_."

Dustpelt glared at the Clan leader, indignantly. "He attacked first! I was defending my Clanmate!"

Crookedstar glanced at Sandbird, and he narrowed his eyes at the sight of her bleeding shoulder. "Is this true?" he growled as he looked back at Silverthorn.

"She called me a fat, smelly Half-Clanner!" Silverthorn hissed. His tail whipped furiously from side to side.

Crookedstar glanced back at Sandbird. "Is _that_ true?"

Sandbird looked down at her paws. "Yes," she muttered.

A low growl rumbled in Crookedstar's throat as he looked back and forth between the three cats. Before he could speak, Ravenpaw hurried out of the nursery. "Please don't send me away!" he pleaded, and Crookedstar turned his attention to him. "I know my Clanmates have greatly disrespected you," he meowed. "But please allow me continue to train."

Sandbird swallowed as a wave of guilt hit her. _I shouldn't have provoked him,_ she thought. _What if Crookedstar refuses to continue training Ravenpaw? Thistlestar will have my pelt!_

Crookedstar flattened his ears, and took a few moments to respond. "Fine," he finally decided. "But you will come alone from now on. I will not have my warriors getting into fights with your more… _arrogant_ Clanmates."

Sandbird narrowed her eyes in displeasure, but knew better than to talk back to the leader of RiverClan. She heard a quiet growl from Dustclaw as he padded towards her, bleeding from his ear and missing a patch of fur on his shoulder.

Ravenpaw brightened. "Thank you so much," he meowed, and dipped his head respectfully. "You won't have any more problems like this."

Crookedstar nodded and glared at Sandbird and Dustclaw. "Go home," he ordered. "You aren't welcome here anymore."

Sandbird nodded silently and forced herself to keep her fur flat as she stood and padded towards the camp entrance. _Thistlestar is going to be furious._


	5. Chapter 4

**Here we are with chapter four! Sorry for the delay- I had everything written out and then lost a sizable part of the chapter because I was working offline on my phone and now the document won't open to let me upload the changes. I'm not happy with some parts, since they were definitely written better the first time, but here we go anyway. As always, thanks to KatieK101 for being an awesome beta!**

 **Reviews:**

 **rebekahtpe: Fireheart's in for some more annoyance! And that's tough, honestly! I love writing, but I think reading takes the cake.**

 **Trainkrazy: Thank you so much! That's so nice to hear.**

* * *

 _Fireheart awoke to the warm scent_ of fresh-kill. He blinked his eyes open to see a mouse that had been dropped right before his nose. The ginger tom swiped his tongue over his lips and rolled over do that he could sit up and stretch.

Bluefur sat a few paces away. She was running her tongue over a mud-covered paw, and her legs seemed to be covered in dirt. Fireheart frowned at the sight. "What happened to you?"

Bluefur glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, scoffed quietly, and returned her attention to her grooming.

Realization struck him. _She didn't…_ Fireheart wrinkled his nose. "Did you go back to WindClan and bury those elders?"

Bluefur sighed and placed her paw back on the ground. "Unlike _some_ cats," she meowed, slowly, "I have a respect for our traditions. Those cats can rest now."

Fireheart scowled, and it took all his willpower not to bristle with indignation. _I respect our traditions!_ he thought indignantly. _But I also want to find WindClan as soon as we can._ "You need to rest," he snapped, as irritation boiled up inside him. "You must have been up all night."

"I'll be fine," Bluefur replied breezily. "Worry about yourself."

Fireheart wanted to growl in frustration, but he instead turned his back to her to eat the mouse. _Arrogant frog-brain!_ he thought. _We'll never get anywhere if she collapses with exhaustion._

Fireheart crouched down to take a bite of the mouse and chewed slowly, ears flat. This day was already starting off terribly.

Barley and Snowbird padded into the barn from outside, laughing to themselves. They walked close together, and Barley purred something to her before she butted her head against his shoulder and hurried off through the hay, ears pricked.

 _They're awfully… close,_ Fireheart thought curiously as he chewed on a bite of his mouse.

"Morning!" Barley meowed, tail raised high in greeting. "I see you're up," he nodded at Fireheart. "It's a wonder you managed to sleep through the night- _some_ of our companions snore like badgers, I tell you!"

Bluefur glared fiercely at her friend before she rose stiffly. "I'm going to make dirt," she muttered, and padded past them.

Fireheart rolled his eyes and smiled at Barley. "Well, I suppose I'm just used to it, sleeping by the river and all." For a moment, his mind went to Heavystep, as his denmate was infamous for being RiverClan's most heavy sleeper, and he purred fondly. "Not to mention, some of my Clanmates sound like monsters at night!"

Barley chuckled and sat down. He glanced over his shoulder, as though checking to see if Bluefur was still around, but the ThunderClan she-cat had vanished already. "Give Bluefur a chance," he meowed. "She's frosty, but she's got a good heart. Earn her trust, and you'll have a strong ally, you will."

Fireheart nodded, but he couldn't help but feel a moment of doubt. _Can_ I _trust_ her _, though?_ He was reminded briefly of Silverthorn's misgivings. _Silverthorn might be a fox-heart at times, but he's right about one thing- it isn't easy to trust a ThunderClan cat._ Bluefur was certainly wise and experienced, but she didn't seem to be getting any friendlier.

"And keep an eye on that Snowbird, will you?" Barley suddenly asked. "She's young, you know? I'm sure she'll prove herself, but she needs for someone to look out for her."

Fireheart narrowed his eyes. "You two seem close already," he meowed. _It's one thing if he just wants to look out for her… but if he's trying to flirt with Snowbird, I'll claw his ears! She's hardly older than a kit!_

Barley laughed as though he knew what Fireheart was thinking. "Trust me, Fireheart, it's nothing like that. She just… well, to be honest, she reminds me of my sister. I promised to protect her and didn't do such a good job of it." His eyes darkened with sadness. "I don't know I can ever make it up to her. So keep an eye out for her, for me, alright? It tears me up to see such young cats getting hurt."

Fireheart smiled and nodded. "Of course I will." Snowbird was annoying and an absolute pain, but he wasn't hoping for her to get into trouble, either.

Barley yawned, before his eyes widened in horror. "Oh, goodness!" he exclaimed. "I better be sure that scamp doesn't get into the chickens!" Without a final goodbye, the big tom leaped up to his paws and bounded off in the direction Snowbird had headed.

Fireheart chuckled to himself and returned his attention to his mouse. _Well, at least some cats around here aren't looking to rip my pelt off._

* * *

It was just past dawn when the three travelers set off again. Barley had wished them well and promised a warm nest and a full belly, should they ever need it again, and seemed sorry to see Bluefur go. The ThunderClan warrior was as cold as ever, and Snowbird was still bursting with energy.

The moorland seemed to stretch on forever. Fireheart remained alert and on edge, still wary and uncomfortable in the open terrain. While RiverClan certainly wasn't a dense forest, there were plenty of shrubs and reeds to shelter in. Here, there was nothing but the rolling hills of drying grass and the occasional clump of heather.

By midday Fireheart's paws ached and his belly twister with hunger. The mouse he had eaten at dawn wouldn't be enough to hold him over until dusk. And he could tell by the way Bluefur's shoulders sagged that she was exhausted, much more so than she would ever admit. Snowbird, to her credit, was still chipper and stayed a few paces ahead of the older warriors.

Fireheart scanned their surroundings for a good resting place. Only a little ways ahead was a large boulder, which seemed as good as they would get. He picked up his pace until he was walking beside Bluefur. "Hey," he meowed. "Why don't we rest at that boulder? We can hunt and take a break for a little while."

Bluefur blinked at him. After a moment, she lowered her head and sighed, "Alright. Fine."

 _Thank StarClan,_ Fireheart thought. _At least she's being reasonable now._ "Snowbird!" he called, and the white she-cat stopped her tracks to look over her shoulder at him. "Wait up. We're going to rest at that rock."

The young she-cat flicked her tail to acknowledge his words, and bounded on ahead towards the stone.

"Young cats!" Bluefur coughed out a tired, dry laugh. "Always in a rush to get places."

Fireheart flicked an ear and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "At least she got a full night's sleep and won't be slowing us down come late afternoon."

The hint of a smile on Bluefur's face faded and twisted into a scowl. "Perhaps your kittypet birthright makes it harder for you to understand our customs," she spat. "Not even a kit would question the burial of an elder."

Fireheart flattened his ears. "So teach me!" he exclaimed, and surprised himself with his outburst. The warrior heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry," he meowed. "My Clanmates taught me about hunting and fighting and our rules, but… I'm still learning our traditions. Our history. And I _want_ to know them! I believe in StarClan," he added, truthfully. Bluefur gave him a surprised glance, and Fireheart went on. "I do. But… I don't know everything, and I understand that."

Bluefur was silent for what felt like ages, and Fireheart wondered if he had offended her again. Finally, she took a breath. "Brave words," she meowed. "It takes strength to admit a weakness." She was quiet, again, until she added, "Perhaps I can teach you a thing or two in the time we have together." She stared up ahead at Snowbird, who had just reached the stone. "She could use some teaching, too," the she-cat reckoned. "StarClan knows Brokenstar taught her nothing but to fight and kill!"

Fireheart frowned at her words. _I hadn't thought of that…_ "It's a wonder she's so…"

"Chipper?" Bluefur offered with a light chuckle. "Overzealous?"

"Yeah," Fireheart purred in agreement. " _That_."

They fell back into silence as they drew closer to the boulder, although the tension between them seemed to have eased.

Snowbird flopped down in the shadow of the boulder as they reached her. "What took you so long?" she laughed. "I've been here for _ages_!"

Fireheart and Bluefur exchanged amused glances before they sat down. Bluefur sighed heavily as she lowered herself into a crouch, head and shoulders slumped with exhaustion.

Fireheart frowned, but refrained from making a comment. _She's really worn out,_ he thought. _Digging those graves took a toll on her._ He flicked Snowbird with his tail. "Hey," he meowed. "Why don't we hunt? We could use a break for a meal."

Bluefur parted her jaws, as though irritated that Fireheart was clearly trying to leave her, but the tom quickly added, "And of course, it'll be Bluefur's turn to hunt tomorrow afternoon."

Bluefur seemed to hesitate before she nodded in the slightest. "Very well."

Fireheart stretched before he stood and beckoned for Snowbird to follow with a flick of his tail. The white she-cat blinked and hurried after him as he led the way away from the boulder.

He glanced at the young she-cat beside him. Her eyes were bright and eager, and despite their journey, she still had a spring in her step. _I should give her a chance to lead a little_ , Fireheart thought. _She's a warrior, but I doubt she gets treated like one._ "Do you smell anything?" he asked.

Snowbird seemed surprised, but she stopped to part her jaws and taste the air. She stepped forward, slowly, eyes closed. The she-cat opened her eyes and glanced up at Fireheart. "Rabbit!"

Fireheart grinned encouragingly. "Well?" he asked. "Lead the way! I'm not so used to hunting ground prey."

Snowbird twitched her whiskers and broke into a run without warning. "Keep up if you can!" she called over her shoulder as she sped ahead.

 _Cheeky fox!_ Fireheart chuckled to himself before he raced after the she-cat. The pair sped through the tall grass, and it wasn't long before the scent of rabbit hit his nose as well.

He frowned as he caught the smell of blood, and he slowed down. "Snowbird—!" he tried to call, but the she-cat had already ran fox-lengths ahead. The tom watched as she skidded to a halt.

"Fireheart!" she yowled. "Come look at this!"

Confused, Fireheart hurried towards her. "What is it?"

Snowbird jerked her head to indicate he should come closer. At her paws law a half-eaten hare. Flies buzzed around the carcass, and Fireheart wrinkled his nose at the sight. "That's what I smelled," he grunted. "Whoever ate it must have been in a hurry."

Snowbird leaned forward and sniffed it. She gasped and looked up at Fireheart, eyes wide and gleaming. "Fireheart, it's WindClan!" she exclaimed. "WindClan was here!"

* * *

"What in StarClan's name do you _mean_ Crookedstar threw you out?!"

Sandbird winced at the ferocity in Thistlestar's snarl. "I—"

" _Don't._ " Thistlestar stood and lashed his thick tail. "What to do with you two…"

Dustclaw scowled from beside her. "With all due respect, I only defended Sandbird from that fox-heart. I didn't—"

Tigerclaw leaned close to the tom, his muzzle hardly a hair's length away. "I don't believe your leader asked, Dustclaw," he growled. Dustclaw lowered his head as the fur along his spine began to bristle in the slightest. Sandbird averted her gaze uncomfortably.

Thistlestar pulled away and began to pace back and forth. They had been in his den since they'd returned home from RiverClan, and Thistlestar was outraged.

"Any other time— _Any_ _other time!_ — I could care less what you did to RiverClan," The massive gray tom spat. "But _right now_ , all I needed you to do was make sure no one harmed our only future medicine cat!" He stopped pacing to stand directly in front of Sandbird. She swallowed thickly, as she trembled underneath his burning gaze. Thistlestar was always intimidating, but seeing him enraged was _terrifying_.

"Dustclaw, get out," Thistlestar snapped. "We can discuss _your_ punishment later. Tigerclaw, you're dismissed. Let me know when Ravenpaw returns. I'll need to speak to him as well."

Tigerclaw curled his lip, clearly displeased, but he obeyed and stiffly rose to pad out of the den. Dustclaw, on the other hand, couldn't get out fast enough, and only shot a muttered apology to Sandbird as he hurried out.

Thistlestar fixed Sandbird with his intense gaze again. She hung her head. "I'm sorry," she tried. "I didn't mean to—"

"Don't grovel," Thistlestar interrupted her, a note of contempt in his voice. "We both know you're above that, Sandbird."

The ginger warrior raised her chin. He was right. _I_ am _above grovelling._ "...Okay."

Thistlestar seemed to have calmed after Tigerclaw and Dustclaw departed. He flicked his ear, and remained silent to the point where Sandbird was shifting uncomfortably. _Is he going to say something?_ she wondered. _Or does he just want to see if I'll crack?_

When he still did not speak, Sandbird tried the more assertive route. "Will you just tell me my punishment?" she asked. "I'm sure we both have better things to do than sit here."

At that, Thistlestar broke into deep, throaty laughter, which startled her. Sandbird wasn't sure she'd ever heard an actual laugh from Thistlestar in all her life. _StarClan, he's going to snap and rip out my throat or something,_ she thought, a little worried this was actually the truth.

Thistlestar regained his composure with a final chuckle, and stared at her once again. "No," he meowed. "I will not be punishing you."

"Wh-what?" Sandbird was astonished. This was the cat who'd ordered Graystripe, as an apprentice, to eat seven snails after he was caught talking about how Tigerclaw had bees for brains; the cat who'd ordered Ravenpaw go hunt hedgehogs and adders when he failed his first warrior assessment; the cat who'd actually clawed out a chunk of Darkstripe's fur when they'd lost Fireheart as a kit at Sunningrocks. _This_ cat was now telling her he _wasn't_ going to punish her? _Is… is this some kind of test?_ she thought frantically. _He must be joking! Any moment now, he's going to say 'got you!' and rip my ears out or something!_

"You heard me," Thistlestar said as he lifted a paw to slowly draw a tongue over it. He reached up to clear the back of one ear. "I won't be punishing you. You're too valuable."

"Er…" Sandbird was floored. In all fairness, Thistlestar was only a few murders away from being an actual tyrant, and he _actually wasn't_ about to strip her of every whisker on her face. "What… what do you mean?"

Thistlestar chuckled again. "Don't be humble, Sandbird. It's not fitting for you. You have been a warrior only a moon, and yet you are one of my most skilled warriors. You have more patience than Runningwind or Mousefur, more hunting skill than Stonefur, and you're a more calculated fighter than Darkstripe. You're young, but you have a rare potential I haven't seen in seasons."

Sandbird blinked, surprised. She'd never heard him praise _anyone_ , let alone to this extent! "Th-thank you, Thistlestar," she stammered out. _He is right,_ she thought to herself, despite the initial surprise. _Runningwind couldn't be patient to save his live, Stonefur is too bulky to hunt well in the undergrowth, and Darkstripe jumps into fights without thinking- even more than Dustclaw! But I still can't believe_ Thistlestar _is giving me such high praise._

"Yes," Thistlestar went on. "You're too valuable to put on some apprentice duty detail. I _need_ my best warriors, close by my side. Do you understand, Sandbird?"

Sandbird hesitated before she dipped her head. "Yes, Thistlestar."

"Very good," he meowed. "So I won't be punishing you- but I trust that in return, you will do me a favor. Not now, but when I should need it."

Sandbird swallowed. "Of course."

"Very good," he repeated with a twitch of his tail. "Now, go get some rest. Ravenpaw can check that shoulder of yours when he returns."

Sandbird stood, but before she turned away, she hesitated. "What about Dustclaw?" she asked.

"Dustclaw!" Thistlestar snorted. "He isn't half the warrior you are. Dustclaw is strong, yes, but he has no _ambition_ , no drive to go any farther than where he is right now. His greatest asset to the Clan will be providing it with strong kits, in due time. But you, Sandbird-" he paused for a moment, and smiled darkly- " _You_ stick by my side, and you will go _far_ in ThunderClan. Work closely with me, and we can help each other, you and I. Do you understand me?"

Sandbird hesitated again. This was more than just a leader asking for his Clanmate's loyalty. Thistlestar was asking that she become one of his loyal followers, a cat who did his work and lived easy in ThunderClan.

She was surprised by the offer- very surprised. Redtail had been one of his most vocal dissents, and they both knew this. And yet, here he was, offering her this opportunity like a plump rabbit in Leafbare. _Could I do this?_ She wondered to herself. _Can I go against all my father believed in?_ Sandbird knew this would ensure her a strong and safe position in ThunderClan, and would bring its benefits.

Sandbird felt her heart ache for a moment, for Redtail, before she meowed, "Of course, Thistlestar. I understand completely."

Thistlestar purred, low and deep. "Excellent. I believe you and I will accomplish great things, Sandbird." He inclined his head to the mouth of his den. "Now, go on- you have the day to rest that shoulder, but I want you on patrols tomorrow."

Sandbird dipped her head silently and turned away. She padded from the den, and as she did, she felt a thick lump rise in her throat. _I'm sorry, Redtail._


	6. Chapter 5

**So sorry it's been so long! Writer's block has been _killing_ me, and I've been super busy with school and work. However, I've finally gotten back into the flow of writing this story, so expect more updates in the near future :).**

 **Reviews:**

 **Petitprincess: Thank you so much! I was honestly going to stick _much_ closer to canon at first, but I'm glad that I've made the changes I did and have some more surprises planned! I won't say much on your thoughts about Sandbird, but I promise that some of her thoughts/plans will be revealed soon enough.**

 **I'm so glad you love Silverthorn! He was originally just going to be a complete Fireheart hater with no real reason or backstory, but I ended up liking him too much to leave him that way. Again, don't want to say _too_ much on Fireheart's future relationship(s?), but I will say that they will grow closer over time. I ALSO will say that Vixen/Shade probably won't be the only gay couple in this story. For all the fans I see making gay headcanons/pairings on other sites, there's kinda a surprising lack of gay relationships in fanfiction, and being gay myself, I ended up just deciding I was going to take it upon myself to start working gay characters into all my stories.**

 **Wyldclaw: Haha, you're one of the few that seems to like Sandbird's name! And don't worry, no secret motives behind Barley looking out for Snowbird. He's just trying to make sure she's got someone watching her back!**

 **Thanks to everyone else who reviewed!**

* * *

 _Fireheart scraped together the sheep's wool_ and nodded to himself, satisfied with his work. The nest was certainly crude, but they would only be spending one night here before they moved on to find WindClan.

Snowbird was already asleep, and laid belly up in her nest. She snored quietly, and her whiskers twitched occasionally in her sleep.

Bluefur settled down in her nest, and tucked her paws under her chest. She gazed up at Silverpelt for a while, and appeared to be deep in thought. As Fireheart sat down to give himself a quick grooming, she glanced at him and asked, "Did anyone ever tell you the story of how the Clans formed?"

Fireheart blinked, a little surprised, but shook his head. "No," he meowed. "I didn't hear many stories as an apprentice. Aside from the elders' boasting, of course," he added with a purr.

"Hmm." Bluefur's tail twitched as she returned her attention to the expanse of stars above. She was silent for a few moments before she meowed, "Well… I suppose I might as well tell you. Before the Clans, the forest was filled with loners. There was no code, no honor, and certainly no loyalty. Cats hunted for themselves or for their small bands, but even those groups turned on each other at the drop of a feather."

Fireheart's ears pricked with interest, and he moved to lay down on his side to listen. "Yeah?"

Bluefur nodded slowly. "The cats then were no better than vicious rogues who would fight over a scrap of prey. They fought endlessly over slivers of territory, desperate to stake out a safe home for themselves or their families. Some would have killed just for a bite of crow-food. But eventually, two brothers came to lead their own bands of cats. Their names are lost to time, but we still remember their history."

Bluefur curled her tail around herself as she continued. "One brother wanted only peace for all the cats of the forest, while the other was greedy for land and followers. He believed the only way to be safe was to establish borders and challenge all those who didn't follow him and dared to step on his land. Though this was later adopted as part of our code, the second brother was cruel, and many lives were lost due to his selfishness."

Fireheart frowned and shifted his paws. _It's strange to think of a time before borders,_ he thought. _When I was still a kittypet, it made no sense, but now that I'm a warrior… I see the value in keeping cats like Brokenstar and Thistlestar out._

"Eventually, the tensions between the brothers were too high," Bluefur went on. "Even cats who had no group were dragged into their feud, and one night… a fight broke out in a clearing in the woods. The battle raged between all cats. Friends and siblings turned on one another, and countless lives were lost until the grass was soaked in the blood of the fallen."

"Who won?" Fireheart asked, curiously. "That sounds like a terrible war."

"No cat won that night," Bluefur said, quietly, as she looked back at Fireheart. "As the brothers realized the err of their ways, spirits rose from the bodies of those who had died. The living looked upon their loved ones with awe, and the spirits declared there would be no more battles fought on those grounds. They ordered that there must be a truce in the place they had fought in, and that clearing became what we know as Fourtrees."

"This is why we have the full-moon truce," Bluefur explained. "We honor the wishes of those that died in the first battle. Those cats then ordered that the rogues must find a way to unite themselves, and then—" she tipped her head back to look back up at the stars— "They went to the sky and became StarClan."

Fireheart followed her gaze to the sky. "When I joined RiverClan, a friend told me about the stars. He said each one is a fallen warrior—a member of StarClan."

Bluefur dipped her head. "Even as the wounds of the cats were still healing, the tensions were not resolved. They decided to follow the wishes of the spirits and meet peacefully under Fourtrees to discuss how they must live now. The spirits had warned them that they must find a way to unite, or they would all perish. So they came to the agreement that cats needed to form a group with rigid loyalty and carve out territory. But who would lead the cats?" She paused to yawn before continuing. "One cat, massive and striking, strode forward from the masses and declared he should lead. "My name is Thunder!" he had roared with all the night of a lion. "I can hunt through the deep undergrowth of the forest and fight to defend my home. I should lead us."'

Fireheart twitched his whiskers in amusement. "I imagine that didn't go over well with everyone."

Bluefur chuckled and shook her head. "Thunder had many good friends, but there were others who believed they should lead. A slim queen raised her head and yowled, "I am Wind, and I should lead us! I can race across my moorland faster than a hawk can fly, and I can fight as well as any who should challenge me." Like Thunder, Wind had her supporters, but two more cats came forward, both carrying a calm and less brazen air. The first, a glossy tom, spoke slowly. "My name is River," he told them. "I can swim through the rivers and know more about the healing herbs of this land than any of you. I believe I am fit to lead."'

"Let me guess," Fireheart purred. "The last cat was named Shadow?"

Bluefur cast him a scathing look, but he could see the humor gleaming in her eyes. "Don't be cheeky!" she chided, before she snorted and shook her head. "But yes, the final cat was a dark she-cat by the name of Shadow. "I can stalk for hours without making a single sound, hunt through the night, and vanish without a trace. Our enemies will never see us coming under my leadership. I should be our leader." The cats nearly fought again, each vying for a different leader, until the stars came down from the sky in the forms of their loved ones and decreed that each cat would lead their own Clan. So the forest cats took to the group that represented their strengths, and went to their own territories. We have lived in the Clans ever since."

Fireheart yawned and stretched out to lay his head down on the ground. "Will you tell me another story?" he asked, quietly. "Like I said, I haven't… heard many."

Bluefur seemed to have the smallest of smiles before she nodded. "Alright. My kits used to love the stories of the great Clans. Long before the times of our Clans, great cats roamed the woods. They were big as horses, and had claws as long as your tail, as well as teeth that could crush stones…"

* * *

When they started off in the morning, both Bluefur and Fireheart agreed that Snowbird could lead the way. She seemed to have a sharper nose than even Bluefur, and picked up a trail where the senior warrior could not.

"Perhaps she has some value after all," Bluefur muttered into Fireheart's ear as they walked. Snowbird bounded along up ahead, pausing every now and then to scent the air and adjust their course.

Fireheart chuckled. "She's just young, that's all."

"Young and a pain in my tail," Bluefur retorted, though Fireheart caught the amused smile that tugged at her lips for a brief moment. She shook her head, and added, "In all seriousness, she's been given far too much responsibility for a cat her age. It's no wonder she's… a _pawful_ , given that she didn't have the chance to mature before becoming a warrior."

"And here I was thinking you just hated her," Fireheart said, teasingly, and flicked the queen with his tail.

Bluefur snorted. "Don't mistake my understanding for _liking_ her."

Fireheart rolled his eyes and looked back up ahead at Snowbird, who was sniffing at a clump of heather, tail raised. He was surprised at how he actually found himself feeling fondness for the young she-cat—she was annoying, certainly, but Snowbird was young and she meant well.

Snowbird bounded up a short slope, where she stopped to look over her shoulder at her companions. "Hurry up!" she called. "You're going to want to see this."

Bluefur and Fireheart shared a confused glance before they hurried up the grassy slope to join her.

"That's where we're headed," Snowbird said grimly, nodding ahead of them.

Just on the horizon lay a great tangle of Thunderpaths. Some stretched across the land, while others were held in the air by stone pillars. Monsters raced across them, faster than Fireheart had ever seen.

Fireheart swallowed. "You're sure?"

Snowbird nodded once. "I'm sure of it."

"Well," Bluefur meowed, voice dry. "Let's get going, then."

* * *

As they neared the Thunderpaths, Fireheart grew increasingly nervous. Even the ground beneath his paws seemed to tremble from the rush of monsters over the paths. Despite the stench of monsters and twolegs, Snowbird led the way easily, following a scent trail that neither Bluefur nor Fireheart could catch.

They reached the side of one Thunderpath, and Fireheart kneaded his paws anxiously. "Do we have to cross?"

Snowbird dipped her head. For the first time, she seemed grim. "Their scent goes this way. It's fresh."

Bluefur craned her neck to stare down to their left. "As soon as I give the word, we _run_. You both need to run faster than you've ran in your lives. These monsters run much faster than the ones on our Thunderpath."

Fireheart crouched down as he prepared himself to spring forward. _This is just like running from Thistlestar,_ he thought. _You just have to run as hard as you can._

A group of monsters raced past, whipping them with a strong gust, and the path was suddenly clear.

"Now!" Bluefur shouted, as she sprang from the side of the Thunderpath. " _Run_!"

Fireheart leaped forward onto the Thunderpath, and forced himself to swallow down his fear. He raced forward, paws scraping the hard surface of the path. Snowbird ran only a tail-length behind him, and Bluefur was nearly at the end.

Then Fireheart felt the ground tremble in the slightest, and he glanced to his side to see three monsters charging straight for them. They were far down the path, but they were traveling swiftly, and would reach them in seconds.

"Snowbird!" Fireheart yowled. "Run!"

"I _am_!" the she-cat shrieked.

Bluefur was already standing in the ditch on the other side. "Hurry!" she shouted.

Fireheart leaped, clearing the distance between him and the ditch and landed in the dirt near Bluefur. He turned around to see Snowbird crouched down, low to the ground, still on the Thunderpath. Her eyes were wide and she curled her thick tail around herself as a red monster raced for her.

"No!" Fireheart screeched.

It was too late. The monster ran straight over the she-cat, and not a single sound escaped her.

Fireheart clenched his eyes shut. _Not Snowbird,_ he thought. _She's so young, she shouldn't —_

"Fireheart!" Bluefur gasped. "Look!"

He opened his eyes, and Snowbird was sitting up in the same place, blinking rapidly. She shook herself a little, stood up, and hurried to join them. "It didn't even crush my tail!" she exclaimed. Her eyes were gleaming, and it seemed that any former trace of fear was gone.

"But you—it—" Fireheart stammered, shocked. "How?"

Snowbird twitched her whiskers. "I saw it coming for me and I thought I was a goner. But there was a _huge_ gap between its paws, so I just ducked down and got as small as I could, and it went right over me! Monsters must be pretty mouse-brained."

Fireheart rolled his eyes, but his heart was still pounding. "I thought it crushed you."

Bluefur shook her head sternly, but Fireheart could tell that the queen was relieved, too. "Next time, keep up." Bluefur meowed. "You might not be so lucky again."

Snowbird shook out her pelt again and straightened up. "Let's go!" she meowed. "We're close."

She was right—even Fireheart could pick up the smell of the WindClan Warriors now. It was masked by the stench of the monsters, but it was there, and he knew that they had to be nearby.

"I can't imagine settling in a place like this," Bluefur grumbled.

"They're desperate," Fireheart meowed. "Probably couldn't stand to travel any further."

"Let's hope they can stand to travel back home," Bluefur retorted.

"Here!" Snowbird exclaimed. She stood beside a wide, open stone tunnel. As Fireheart walked towards it, his lip curled from the stench that wafted out.

"We have to go in there?" he asked, swallowing back bile. Either WindClan cats had no sense of smell, or they really _were_ that desperate.

Snowbird dipped her head, and, without waiting for further argument, stepped in and started to pad down the tunnel.

"Let's go," muttered Bluefur, who clearly shared Fireheart's enthusiasm. She followed Snowbird in, and Fireheart sighed as he ducked his head and stepped inside.

The tunnel was about as enjoyable as Fireheart anticipated. Heavy stench of rot and the Thunderpaths overwhelmed Fireheart's senses, and it was hard to swallow back the bile that rose in his throat. Though he was unfamiliar with the scent of WindClan, he could smell the fear-scent of many cats as they progressed through the tunnel.

Bluefur's tail flicked lightly against his nose as she turned. Fireheart felt the turn in the tunnel with his whiskers a moment later, and he followed his companions down the turn. The tunnel began to slope downwards, and Fireheart could hear the sound of trickling water up ahead—and only a moment later, the faint sounds of conversation reached his ears.

"We're nearly there!" Snowbird meowed, voice barely above a whisper.

Bluefur stepped to the side, and Fireheart's whiskers no longer brushed the side of a tunnel. Light shone down from a grate high above, faintly illuminating the open space they were in. Though the three cats stood in the mouth of the dark tunnel, they could see the open cave before them. Flat, smooth ground stretched on either side of a dirty, dark stream—clearly the source of the horrid stench.

They were not alone. Cats were huddled together in small groups, unaware of the intruders. They looked like skin-and-bones, and Fireheart marveled at the fact that they'd managed to survive down here.

A warning yowl sounded from one of the cats as they spotted Fireheart and his companions, and in a flurry of movement, the cats were on their paws, whipping their heads around.

"Stand your ground," Bluefur muttered. "Keep your fur flat and your tails low. We do not want to look hostile. Be respectful." Though her words seemed mostly for Snowbird, who was starting to bristle nervously, Fireheart had to take a deep breath to keep his fur smooth. WindClan may have been nearly starved to death, but they outnumbered Fireheart, Bluefur, and Snowbird.

The WindClan warriors darted forward and stood in a rigid line, but they stopped just a few fox-lengths short of the tunnel. The warriors' tails whipped back and forth as they stared down the newcomers.

 _Oh, StarClan,_ Fireheart thought with a nervous gulp. _What have we gotten ourselves into?_

* * *

A warm breeze ruffled Sandbird's pelt as she climbed to the top of the ravine. Mosstail leaped up beside her, and Mistyfoot was only a step behind.

Mosstail took a deep breath and sighed. "It's such a nice day," she remarked. "One of the last before frost sets in."

"One of the last that I'll be patrolling," Mistyfoot grumbled.

Sandbird glanced at the queen and chuckled. "You upset that you're going to have to move into the nursery in a few days?"

Mistyfoot heaved a sigh as they began to pad onward. "No, I'll be glad for the rest. It's getting harder to carry out my duties, but… doesn't mean I won't miss running through the woods!"

Mosstail laughed. "Must be pretty annoying having Runningwind breathing down your neck over it!"

Mistyfoot shook her head. "No, no," she meowed. "He's been great. Hasn't been pushing me at all, actually, which is a nice surprise." She rolled her eyes. "But that _Ravenpaw_! He said if I don't move in he'll slip poppy seeds into my meal and drag me there himself. I swear, he thinks he's been made leader or something."

They all laughed at that. Though Ravenpaw had been an anxious mess as an apprentice, too afraid to so much as look his own mentor in the eye, he had started to flourish in his role of a medicine cat.

 _It's probably that Yellowfang,_ Sandbird thought. _She's got a sharper tongue than a snake!_

Mistyfoot shouldered her sister. "What about you?" she asked. "Any cats in your life I've yet to hear about?"

Mosstail shuddered. "StarClan, _no_. I mean, have you seen the toms ThunderClan has to offer?"

Sandbird snorted. "Oh, come on. Didn't you and Longtail 'go hunting' a moon ago together? Whatever happened to that?"

"Ugh, don't remind me," Mosstail groaned. "That was hardly more than a passing fling. He might be handsome, sure, but that tom's proud as a fox and has twice the attitude!"

"A _fling_?" Mistyfoot meowed, a little disbelievingly. "You're kidding."

Mosstail shrugged. "What? It was fun for the few days I could stand his company. It was just a fling. _Anyway_ ," she glanced at Sandbird. "What about _you_?"

Sandbird blinked. "Er… no. No one."

The sisters exchanged a look. "You expect us to believe that?" Mistyfoot asked. "It's obvious there's _something_ happening with you and Dustclaw." With another roll of her eyes, she added, "Or maybe it's just another _fling_."

Sandbird wrinkled her nose. _Seriously?_ she thought. _Why does everyone think we're padding after each other?_ "I'm _not_ involved with Dustclaw. For StarClan's sake, you two are like a pair of elders."

Mosstail smirked. "Maybe you're not _involved_ , but there must be _something_ going on there. Come on, even _I_ can see that Dustclaw is decently handsome."

"Oh, for the love of…" Sandbird muttered. "Did we come here to hunt, or to gossip about my non-existent love life?"

"Personally," Mosstail meowed. "I'm _just_ here for the gossip."

Sandbird let out a growl of annoyance and sped up. "Well, _I'm_ hunting!"

Mosstail and Mistyfoot snickered as she hurried ahead.

"Oh, come on!" Mosstail called. "We were just teasing!"

"I won't tell Dustclaw about how flustered you were!" Mistyfoot laughed.

"Not to worry, Sandbird, we're great with secrets!"

"Won't breathe a word of it to Dustclaw!"

"Just don't tell my mother about Longtail when she gets back!"

"Shut _up!_ " Sandbird shouted with a glare at the pair over her shoulder.

A flock of birds lifted off from a nearby oak.

"Oh, look what you've done," Mosstail joked. "Now that you've scared off the prey, it looks like we've got no choice but to keep gossiping!"

Sandbird was about to reply when Swiftpaw came crashing through the undergrowth, pelt bushed up and eyes wide with fear. "Help!" he yowled.

Sandbird noticed that he was bleeding from a scratch on his shoulder. "Swiftpaw, what happened?" she demanded.

"RiverClan!" he panted. "Tigerclaw sent some of us to try and mark Sunningrocks, but they spotted us and attacked! We're terribly outnumbered, but he ordered us not to give it up… Whitestorm sent me for reinforcements."

Mistyfoot nodded, all trace of humor gone. "You're nearly to camp," she said. "Keep going, and get Ravenpaw to check your wounds. Do _not_ come back to the battle. We'll go on ahead and join the fight."

Swiftpaw nodded quickly and broke off into a run again.

Mosstail shot a worried look at Mistyfoot. "You should go back to camp," she insisted. "The kits—"

Mistyfoot shook her head. "I won't lay about while you fight. Don't argue, Mosstail, we're wasting time."

Sandbird privately agreed with Mosstail, but she knew Mistyfoot was right—further debate would waste time and risk the lives of their Clanmates. "Let's go," she meowed. "He said they're outnumbered. We need to get there as quickly as possible."

Mosstail looked concerned, but she sighed and nodded. "Alright."

Sandbird led the way through the undergrowth as they began to run for Sunningrocks. She wasn't afraid to fight—she never was—but she was concerned about something. _Why in StarClan's name did Tigerclaw quietly send such a small party to Sunningrocks?_ she wondered. _Was this another test, or is he just getting reckless without Bluefur to keep him in check?_

As they neared Sunningrocks, Sandbird could pick up the sounds of yowls and screeches coming from the rocks. Sunningrocks soon came into view, and it was clear that ThunderClan was outnumbered at least two-to-one. The RiverClan cats swarmed the rocks. Willowpelt was backed against a large stone, faced by three soaked cats. Stonefur fought back-to-back with Whitestorm, surrounded by enemies, and Mistlepaw was pinned to the ground by a heavy brown tom.

Willowpelt's eyes gleamed with hope as she spotted Sandbird and her companions racing towards Sunningrocks. "Thank StarClan, they made it!"

Distracted, her assailants turned to see the source of her excitement. Willowpelt took the opportunity to claw at one warrior's face.

Mosspelt shot past Sandbird, screeching, and leaped on the back of one of the cats attacking Stonefur.

Sandbird took a breath. There was no more time to think. She darted forward, and threw herself into the fray.

* * *

Though the WindClan cats stood rigidly, and looked ready to spring forward, they stood still. Moments passed, and yet they still did not charge any closer.

 _They're waiting for their leader,_ Fireheart realized, with a slight feeling of relief. _They won't attack us without an order._

After a few more moments, the cats parted to make way for a tall black-and-white tom that padded forward. A black tom limped along behind him.

"Who are you?" the black-and-white tom demanded. Though he was clearly weak, he held his head and his long tail high with pride.

"Tallstar," Bluefur meowed, and dipped her head respectfully. "I am Bluefur of ThunderClan, and these are my companions, Snowbird and Fireheart. We've come to bring you home."

"Home?" a tabby warrior spat contemptuously. "We have no home anymore. ShadowClan made certain of that."

Snowbird parted her jaws as though to speak, but Bluefur slapped her tail across the young warrior's jaws. "Brokenstar and his allies are in exile," she explained. "It was the wish of ShadowClan's newest leader that you return home."

Tallstar flicked an ear, and glanced at the warrior who spoke. "Silence, Mudclaw." He stared evenly back at Bluefur. "Brokenstar is truly gone?"

Bluefur nodded. "ShadowClan themselves would gladly kill him if he stepped foot on their territory. Most cats didn't agree with his ways."

"Hmm." Tallstar's tail twitched. The black tom at his side whispered into his ear, and the leader nodded. "Well, we're hardly surviving down here, feeding on rats under the Thunderpath." He turned and beckoned for them to follow with a flick of his tail. "Come. We can give you a meal before we depart."

Fireheart wanted to wrinkle his nose at the thought of eating a sewage-covered rat, but he knew better than to refuse. _Sometimes crowfood is better than no food,_ he thought.

"Will we leave today?" a skinny queen asked as Tallstar passed by her.

The leader nodded to her as he walked by. "We must, Morningflower. It's been too long."

Morningflower's eyes were wide with worry, but she only nodded and crept away without another word.

The WindClan cats finally broke apart and dispersed. A few followed Tallstar towards what seemed to be the meager makings of a fresh-kill pile, but most went back to their clusters to whisper.

Fireheart followed Tallstar to the pile. Bluefur walked side-by-side with leader. She seemed comfortable beside him—not at all fazed by the surrounding warriors or the WindClan leader himself.

Tallstar stopped at the pile, and Fireheart felt a wave of guilt at the thought of taking a piece, even if the smell was terrible. Only a few rats lay on the ground, cold and stiff and reeking of the Thunderpath.

"I must talk with my deputy," Tallstar meowed. "But please, eat." He turned quickly as Fireheart was stepping forward, and the two bumped into each other.

Ears flat with embarrassment, Fireheart stepped back. "Sorry!" he blurted. _Fireheart, you frog-brain!_

Tallstar dipped his head. "Excuse—" he started, but broke off as he met Fireheart's eyes. His jaws remained parted for a long moment, before he whispered, "J-Jake?"

 _Jake?_ Fireheart blinked. "That's my—"

Tallstar shook his head and took a few steps back. "Forgive me, I… made a mistake. You look like… someone I knew."

"Wait!" Fireheart meowed, as Tallstar began to turn away. "Jake is my father. You knew him?" _How does the leader of WindClan know my father?_

"Your…" Tallstar stared at him again. "Father." He smiled faintly. "You have such a striking resemblance." He seemed to hesitate, before he meowed, "Please, share fresh-kill with me."

Fireheart had been considering passing up on a meal, but an invitation to eat with a Clan leader was not something to refuse. "O-of course," he replied. "Thank you."

Tallstar returned to the pile for a moment to grab a rat. He jerked his head for Fireheart to follow as he padded towards an empty spot near the dark stream. The tom sat down and dropped the rat at his paws.

Fireheart sat across from him. He swallowed awkwardly, unsure of what to say. "How did you know Jake?" he asked, a little hesitantly.

Tallstar sighed heavily, before he smiled. "Jake was my best friend. It's been seasons upon seasons since I've seen him… but he was the closest friend I've ever had." He blinked at Fireheart. "So… you were a kittypet? Your mother was a kittypet as well?"

Fireheart nodded. "I'm a warrior now," he said firmly.

Tallstar leaned down to sniff the rat. "I mean no judgement," he promised. "Jake is one of the bravest cats I've ever known. He could show some of my warriors a thing or two about fighting foxes! It doesn't surprise me one of his kin found their way to the Clans." He took a bite and chewed slowly. After swallowing, he asked, "Are you two close?"

Fireheart shook his head. "It's not really the same for most kittypets. I met him once, but he didn't live near us. He was nice, but I was young. I don't remember much."

Tallstar flicked his tail. "That's a shame," he meowed. "Though he seems to have passed on his courage regardless."

Fireheart dipped his head gratefully. "Thank you."

Tallstar shook his head. "No, I owe you my thanks—all of WindClan does. We would have died like rats in these tunnels had you and your companions not come for us."

Deadfoot padded up to the pair and dipped his head briefly. "Pardon me," he meowed. "Tallstar, we should talk before we leave. The elders are fretting."

"Of course," Tallstar agreed with a nod. "Fireheart, excuse me. Perhaps we can speak more later."

Fireheart nodded. "I'd like that." He watched as Tallstar padded away with his deputy. He lowered his gaze to the rat Tallstar had left. The tom bent down to take a bite. _It would be nice to know more about Jake,_ he thought. _I'm surprised a Clan leader would befriend a kittypet, though. Was Tallstar a kittypet, too?_ He shook his head at the audacity of the thought. _The way everyone talks, I'm the only kittypet-born warrior. Besides, it's not like the Clans would ever let a kittypet lead a Clan!_


	7. Chapter 6

**Back again with a Sandbird-focused chapter! Don't worry, though, we'll be jumping right back to Fireheart in the next chapter. Also, as a note, I was on the Wiki again and learned that Swiftpaw's forgotten sibling was actually _Lynxkit,_ while Mistlepaw was supposed to be Snowkit's sister. Mistlepaw will remain in this story as Swiftpaw's sister, and Snowkit will have Lynxkit as a brother instead.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Snowcrystal of ThunderClan: I wish he had seen Jake again!**

 **petitprincess: Nope, not abandoned, don't worry! There might be some more lapses in updates, depending on how things go, but I doubt this'l be abandoned. As for Fireheart - Maybe! I know of _one_ relationship that he will have, but I'm still debating on what the future holds for him. While I have most of the big plot points decided for this book, and a few main ones for the next, I haven't entirely worked out how his love life will turn out. But trust me, I don't plan on splitting him up with anyone by killing off love interests.**

 **I recommend reading Bluestar's Prophecy! I don't remember exactly how Bluefur was then, but it's a great book regardless. I won't comment much on your other thoughts, to avoid spoiling, but I love hearing your theories/thoughts!**

 **Thanks to everyone else who reviewed!**

* * *

 _Sandbird raked her claws down a_ brown tabby's side. He stumbled on the stones as he let out of yelp of pain. Growling, she leaped forward and knocked him to the ground. She dug her claws into his shoulder and twisted with all her strength. The tom shrieked in pain. He squirmed for a moment before he kicked her in the gut and rolled away.

With a wheeze, she staggered. Though she expected the tom to fight back again, he turned, ran for the river, and dove into the water.

"Coward!" she yowled, with a competuous lash of her tail.

But as four more sleek cats leaped out of the dark water, Sandbird gulped. Reinforcements had yet to arrive, and RiverClan just continued to outnumber them. It seemed that for every cat that went running home, a pawful more were ready to replace them.

Silverthorn was among them. His eyes burned with fury, and as he locked eyes with Sandbird, he let out a ferocious snarl. "ThunderClan flea-bag!"

Sandbird arched her spine as she readied herself for the fight. While Silverthorn's clanmates went for the other ThunderClan warriors, he stalked towards her. "Not so brave without that frog-brain to defend you, are you?"

"Come here and I'll show a thing about fighting, half-breed!" She spat, tail whipping.

Silverthorn's lips curled furiously. "Fireheart know you talk like that?"

 _What_ is _it with him and always screeching about Fireheart?_ "Shut up!" Sandbird snapped. She braced herself to spring, but before she could attack him, a heavy weight slammed on her back and forced her to the ground. She yowled as her chin clipped sharply against a rock and her jaws snapped shut. Two large paws pressed against her shoulders, and she found it impossible to move. She groaned, and paired seared through her jaws.

Silverthorn smirked. "You were so busy trying to goad me again that you didn't even hear Heavystep strolling up behind you. ThunderClan cats really _do_ have acorns for brains!" Sandbird glared up and bore her fangs at him, but the tabby warrior cuffed her ears as though scolding a naughty kit.

Sandbird tried to struggle, but Heavystep held her down easily. His claws dug painfully into her shoulders, and she let out a hiss of anger. "You fat badger!" she spat, but Heavystep just grunted, amused. Silverthorn stalked closer, claws unsheathed. _StarClan, help me!_

"ThunderClan, to me!"

Sandbird's ears pricked with hope as she heard Thistlestar's yowl. The weight on her back disappeared as Heavystep leaped back to avoid the ThunderClan reinforcements. Silverthorn stepped backwards with a hiss, uncertain. Warriors raced out from the ferns, screeching and yowling their battle cries.

Sandbird remained limp for a few more moments to catch her breath. Longtail launched himself at Heavystep, and the two cats rolled away as they clawed at one another.

"Sandbird!" she heard Dustpelt call from behind her.

She pushed herself up to her paws. "I'm fine!" she meowed.

Dustpelt bared his fangs as he stared down Silverthorn. "You just don't know when to quit, do you?"

Silverthorn arched his back and spat, wordlessly. Dustclaw shot forward, and the pair reared up to lock their paws around one another.

As the toms struggled to wrestle the other to the ground, Sandbird turned away to find a new opponent. She spotted a black tom - Blackclaw, she recalled - that was stalking circles around Cinderpaw. Though the young apprentice glared back without a trace of fear, she was terribly outclassed by the senior warrior.

With a yowl, Sandbird charged towards him. Blackclaw jerked his head around at her cry, and Cinderpaw took the opportunity to sink her teeth into his tail. Sandbird launched herself forward and slammed into his side, claws outstretched. As they fell to the ground, she raked her claws down his side and bit into his shoulder. Blackclaw shrieked furiously before he flailed his hindlegs and kicked her in the side. They both rolled away, panting.

Cinderpaw darted in and scratched at his flank. Spitting, the RiverClan warrior turned to face her. Sandbird slashed at his other side, and the tom hissed in pain. Blackclaw jumped backwards to avoid the pair of she-cats, but as he straightened up again to attack, another yowl made him freeze.

"Retreat!" a RiverClan cat caterwauled. "RiverClan, retreat!"

Sandbird stood still as wet warriors raced past her and dove into the river. Pride burned in her chest as the final cat leaped into the water to swim back home.

Thistlestar threw back his head and let out a mighty yowl of victory. ThunderClan soon began to join him in celebration. Sandbird shared their joy, but she did not cry out with them. Instead, she let her shoulders sag as she caught her breath.

 _A strong victory, for sure,_ she thought. _But what were they thinking? Why send a tiny patrol to steal back Sunningrocks?_ _This was asking for trouble!_ Sandbird took another look around the blood-covered stones. A single body lay there—the body of a stranger—but though many were injured, ThunderClan suffered no losses. _We were lucky this time,_ Sandbird thought. _But such recklessness is going to get cats killed._

"Thistlestar!" Darkstripe called. Other warriors seemed to have noticed the RiverClan body, and a few were staring with unreadable expressions. "What should we do with the body?"

Sandbird watched silently as Thistlestar padded over and gazed down upon it. After a moment of thought, he spat on it. A few cats gasped loudly in surprise.

"Throw it in the river," he ordered. "RiverClan stole our land, and they must learn the consequences of such transgressions. They will die like this _rogue_ did, and they will go without being helped to StarClan. RiverClan will know they cannot fight and die on ThunderClan soil."

A hush fell over the ThunderClan warriors. Even Tigerclaw looked slightly unsettled, though he said nothing.

Longtail gulped. "Thistlestar, surely we can leave the body for them to find…"

Thistlestar glared fiercely at the young warrior. "Question me again," he said, slowly, emphasizing each word. "And you will join this corpse at the bottom of the river."

A chill ran through Sandbird. _I know Thistlestar can be cruel,_ she thought. _But would he really_ kill _his own warriors?_

Tigerclaw flicked his tail. Though his voice was steady, there was still an uncertain look in his eye. "Longtail, you can dispose of the body."

Longtail sunk low to the ground, and Sandbird's heart twisted with pity. Longtail was rude and irritating, but even he didn't deserve to be forced to carry out such a horrible act. There may not be a code against it, but… every warrior simply knew there were actions in war that are truly dishonorable.

"Do as he says," Thistlestar ordered.

Every cat watched wordlessly as Longtail slowly sank his jaws into the dead warrior's scruff and began to drag them towards the river. Sandbird couldn't hear the rustle of tree branches or birdsong—it was as though the forest itself was holding its breath, waiting to see if Longtail truly would carry out the deed. He dragged it along, agonizingly slow, until he stood paw-deep in the water.

Longtail looked like he was going to just drop the body in the shallows, but Thistlestar curled his lip. "Throw it in where the current will drag it, mouse-brain."

 _Oh, Bluefur would surely spit in Thistlestar's face if she were here!_ Sandbird thought. She kneaded her paws anxiously. _StarClan will be furious._

Longtail froze for a few moments before he dragged it further, and with great effort, pulled it into the current. All of ThunderClan's warriors watched in silence as the body floated downstream and vanished from sight.

"Whitestorm, Tigerclaw, stay behind and mark all of Sunningrocks," Thistlestar ordered. "Everyone else, back to camp. We will eat well tonight to celebrate our victory over those mange-ridden fools."

No one spoke. The proud feeling of victory was gone—instead, they all felt the shame of what Thistlestar had just made Longtail do. The ThunderClan cats slowly stood and padded back into the forest.

* * *

Thick, dark clouds had settled in the sky over ThunderClan territory by the time they returned to camp. Only in the safety of camp did the cats begin to speak again in quiet tones, but the uneasy feeling that hung over them all still did not leave.

Sandbird still felt sick, but she didn't know what to do. She _should_ go to Ravenpaw to have her wounds checked, but she hardly felt like bothering him when other cats had much more severe injuries.

Her gaze fell upon the elders' den. Smallear and Thrushpelt both sat outside the den, peering up at the dark sky through slitted eyes. She padded towards them without really thinking about it.

Thrushpelt smiled as he noticed her. "Ah, Sandbird. Was the battle lost? Everyone seems…"

"Downcast," Smallear sniffed. "Much like the weather."

"We won," Sandbird meowed. "But…" her voice trailed off, uncertain.

"Hmm." Smallear shuffled his paws. "I can tell you need to talk. Come inside, young one."

Sandbird nodded gratefully before she followed the pair of old toms into the den. Patchpelt and Halftail were sharing a sparrow at one side of the den, while One-eye was dozing off in her nest.

"Ah, Sandbird," Halftail rasped. "How did the battle go? Was Sunningrocks won back?"

One-eye opened her eye and coughed. "What?" she meowed. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing yet, you daft mouse," Patchpelt sighed. "Let Sandbird speak!"

Sandbird sat down and sighed. "We did win," she meowed. "Sunningrocks belongs to ThunderClan again."

"As it well should!" One-eye huffed.

"Then why the long face?" Smallear grumbled. "Didn't mention anyone dying. Young cats these days, always finding a reason to mope…"

Sandbird shook her head. "Only a RiverClan cat died."

Thrushpelt nudged her gently. "Was it you that…?"

Sandbird frowned. "No. I didn't see who did. That's not the point. Thistlestar… when we saw the body, he spat on it and ordered Longtail to throw it in the river. Far enough in so that the river dragged it away."

Halftail and Thrushpelt gasped. One-eye sat straight up and curled her lip. Smallear was the first to speak. "He did _what_?"

Sandbird nodded. "No one… nobody wanted to, least of all Longtail. He looked mortified."

One-eye lashed her tail. "StarClan will curse us for this!" She was the oldest cat in ThunderClan, and by far the most superstitious. "Never have I heard of such… such…" she broke off into dubious muttering.

"If Bluefur were here…" Thrushpelt growled.

"This never would've happened if Bluefur were here," Halftail snapped. "This is why the clouds came… StarClan will surely punish us all for what he's done."

Sandbird sat silently as the elders went back and forth about the curses and consequences that StarClan would deliver upon them. In an odd way, it reassured her to know the elders were outraged, but it did nothing to help the unease she felt.

Smallear kneaded his paws furiously. "I ought to have a word or two with Thistlestar about this."

"Do what you will," Halftail hissed. "I'm going to speak with Ravenpaw. _He_ can beg StarClan for forgiveness."

One-eye pushed herself up to her paws. "I'm going to find Dappletail."

Thrushpelt twitched his whiskers. "She's in the nursery. Brindleface started kitting while you were asleep."

"And you didn't wake me?" One-eye demanded. "StarClan's sake…" the elderly queen hobbled out of the den, grumbling all over again.

Sandbird's eyes widened. "Brindleface is kitting?"

Patchpelt nodded. "Don't fret. She finished before you all returned. An easy kitting. We took it as a good sign, but…" he shook his head. "We shall see."

Sandbird dipped her head and backed out of the den. _I should go see her,_ she thought. Brindleface was her mother, and while they weren't particularly close—Sandbird had been more friendly with Redtail when the pair split up—they got along well, and she cared about her.

One-eye was sitting outside the nursery, still looking cross. "Tell that Dappletail to get her pelt out here!"

Sandbird dipped her head. "Sure, One-eye." She ducked her head as she entered the nursery. Brindleface was curled around her newborn kits, while Dappletail sat over her, and went back and forth from crooning quietly to sniffing the kits.

"Hello, Brindleface," Sandbird meowed. "I didn't realize you started kitting this morning."

Brindleface looked up and smiled wearily. "Oh, Ravenpaw didn't want to make a fuss. It was an easy kitting—much unlike yours!"

Sandbird twitched her whiskers in amusement. Brindleface had always liked to tell her that she came out fighting like all of LionClan. "Glad to hear it." She then realized the nursery was empty, save for her mother and the elder, and she tilted her head. "Where are the other queens?"

Dappletail flicked her tail. "They all went for a walk. Graystripe escorted them. You should've seen how excited those kits were to go off with a warrior!"

Brindleface beckoned Sandbird closer with her tail. "Come meet your siblings."

 _Siblings._ It felt strange to think it—she had been the only kit in her litter. Sandbird padded closer and crouched down to examine the kits. All four were varying shades of gray, ranging from a pale soot-gray to nearly black. Each were suckling quietly, eyes closed and ears pressed flat to their heads. "They're so…" Sandbird blinked and sat back up. " _Small_." She could hardly recall Frostfur's kits being this tiny—but, then again, she hadn't visited Frostfur when she first kitted.

Brindleface purred softly in tired amusement. "All kits are."

"Have you named them yet?" Sandbird asked.

The queen shook her head. "I'm waiting for Whitestorm to return." Her eyes widened, round with fright. "Oh—! The battle! Is he—"

"Don't worry. He's just marking Sunningrocks with Tigerclaw," Sandbird assured her. "He'll be a while. But he isn't hurt."

Brindleface sighed. "Thank StarClan."

"Speaking of the battle…" Sandbird glanced up at Dappletail. "One-eye wants to talk to you about it. Though I'm sure all the elders have something to say…"

Dappletail nodded. "Thank you. Brindleface, are you alright to wait until Ravenpaw finishes up with the wounded?"

Brindleface nodded and purred. "I'm fine, Dappletail. Thank you for keeping me company."

"I should get going too," Sandbird meowed, as Dappletail brushed by gently. "I need some sleep. Congratulations on the kits." She leaned forward and quickly licked her mother's ear before she turned and departed.

Much to her disdain, Thistlestar was sitting outside the nursery. She hoped that he had come to check up on the newest additions to ThunderClan, but she could tell by the prick of his ears that Thistlestar was waiting for her. A single drop of rain landed on her nose as she nodded quickly at him.

"Sandbird," he meowed, dipping his head in greeting. "I trust you weren't injured in the battle?"

"No," she replied. Sandbird's tail stomach twinged again at the thought of what Thistlestar had forced Longtail to do. "A few scratches, that's all."

"Good." Thistlestar sniffed before he nodded towards the mouth of the den. "How is Brindleface's litter?"

"Four kits, all healthy," Sandbird meowed. Her voice remained curt—not too sharp, but certainly guarded. She knew that Thistlestar was beginning to put his trust in her, but she certainly was far from trusting him. "Have you come to see them?"

"No," Thistlestar grunted. "Just came to see that you were well. Seeing as you are, go rest. I have something important to show you, but not now."

Sandbird flicked an ear. "Oh?"

The ThunderClan leader nodded. "Yes. I saw you in the battle, fighting Blackclaw. You're still quite skilled, but you can always stand to learn a few more tricks."

Sandbird felt a twinge of irritation. _What? Is he going to put me through apprentice training again?_ "With all due respect, Thistlestar," she replied. "I believe my fighting ability is fine."

"It is," Thistlestar chuckled. "You're not being punished, Sandbird. Just wait and see. I think you'll find this is something more of a _reward_. Now, go rest." He stood and padded away towards his den.

Sandbird watched him go, puzzled. Hardly an hour ago, he had threatened Longtail's life, and now he was back to talking about 'rewards'. She shook her head and padded towards the warriors den. _I guess I don't have a choice,_ she thought. _I suppose I'll just have to 'wait and see' what he has in store for me._

The few droplets quickly picked up into steady rainfall, and Sandbird dove into her nest as quickly as she could.


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! As always, sorry for the long time between updates. I just graduated a couple weeks ago, so I'll have some more time for writing. The next chapter is already in progress, so you shouldn't have to wait as long for it!**

 **Reviews:**

 **Foreststar of WindClan: Hmm, I'm not actually sure! Like you said, a few moons younger than Bluefur. I checked the wiki and it looks like she was approx. 6.5 years old when she died... so Thistlestar (and Bluefur) are probably about five years old right now, give or take a few moons. (Which kind of surprises me- I thought they were both a lot older!) Currently, I'm not planning on Bluefur breaking down like she did before, since I can't really see cause for her to as just being a warrior.**

 **Night of Cloudy Sky: Thank you! Brindleface's other kits are supposed to be named Elderkit and Tulipkit.**

 **petitprincess: Yeah, it's really easy to forget, especially in the first series, since there's pretty much no family interactions. It feels kind of odd for there not to be some acknowledgement of it, since the Clan was so much smaller back then. I'm still not going to spoil how Fireheart (or Silverthorn)'s love life is going to turn out, but they seem to be a pretty popular pair among readers!**

 **An Awkward Fish: Wow, thanks! I'm glad you like how everything has turned out so far. Again, don't want to spoil anything, but lots of people seem to agree with you on Silverthorn!**

 **Thanks to everyone else who reviewed! Even though it's been taking me forever to keep updates coming, I always appreciate y'all's reviews. They're a great motivation to keep going!**

* * *

 _Fireheart narrowed his eyes against the_ harsh sunlight as he followed Bluefur out of the tunnel. He stood to the side as the WindClan cats slowly filed out behind him. They blinked rapidly in the light, all seeming slightly dazed by the sudden change.

 _I wonder just how long they were down there_ , Fireheart thought.

"First things first," Bluefur meowed loudly. "We need to cross the Thunderpath."

Tallstar nodded. "We'll split into three groups to cross. Deadfoot will lead the first, Mudclaw will lead the second, and I will go with the third group."

Fireheart had expected Bluefur to be irritated, but she dipped her head in agreement. "I'll join the last group," she decided.

"Deadfoot, take the apprentices, queens, and elders," Tallstar ordered. "Warriors will follow after."

Bluefur still led the way towards the Thunderpath, while Tallstar remained beside his deputy, a few paces behind Fireheart and Snowbird.

"Be careful this time," Fireheart meowed. "You got lucky the first time we crossed."

Snowbird flicked her tail, unfazed. "I'm not worried at all!" she chirped. "We found WindClan. How much harder could getting home be?"

Fireheart glanced over his shoulder. While he didn't want to put a damper on her enthusiasm, he wasn't so sure himself. "Still," he said. "Be careful."

As the cats began to break into groups, Fireheart found himself among the elders and queens as most of the warriors pulled away, save for a few that remained to help them along.

A young brown she-cat—right around Snowbird's age, Fireheart reasoned—stopped beside him as the first group lined up to cross. "We crossed at night when we came here," she whispered. "There weren't any monsters then."

Fireheart glanced down at her. "It'll be okay," he promised, despite his own worry. "Snowbird, Bluefur, and I all made it across just fine. The monsters won't hit us if we're careful."

The apprentice nodded, but he could still sense her trembling with fright.

A pair of monsters raced by, side-by-side. "Soon!" Deadfoot shouted. "Hold the line!"

"Are your parents close?" Fireheart asked. _Maybe she would feel more at ease with them._ "Your mother or your father?"

The apprentice shook her head. "My father died before I was born. ShadowClan killed my mother."

Fireheart felt a wave of pity. _These cats have been through so much,_ he thought. _I can't imagine what they've lost._ "I'm sorry," he meowed. "What's your name?"

The apprentice glanced up at him. "It's Runningpaw."

"Nice to meet you." Fireheart looked back up at the Thunderpath. Deadfoot was now bracing himself as a few more monsters whizzed past. _There must be a gap coming up,_ he thought. "I'm Fireheart. Stick by my side, alright? I promise I won't let anything happen to you."

Runningpaw gulped loudly, but she nodded again. "I will."

" _Now_!" Deadfoot yowled, and sprung forward onto the Thunderpath. Two queens were closest behind him, each with a squealing kit dangling from their jaws.

"Come on!" Fireheart ordered, and the pair darted into the hard, hot surface. The elders hurried along as quickly as they could, but none could run as fast as the younger cats among them.

Fireheart forced himself not to follow his instinct and race to the other side as fast as his paws would carry him. Instead, he tried to keep his pace close to poor Runningpaw's. As they reached the other end together, Fireheart could feel the ground tremble, signaling that another monster was on its way. "Hurry!" he snapped, heart racing. A shiny monster was gaining on them from the right, but luckily, they managed to throw themselves to the ditch on the other side before it shot past.

Runningpaw was shaking beside him, but she looked back at the Thunderpath with an exhilarant grin. "We made it!"

Fireheart smiled down at her. "We sure did."

Snowbird's group crossed much more quickly than Fireheart's had, and with a few moments to spare before another group of monsters raced by them. She shot him a smug grin. "Told you so!"

The cats that had already passed waited anxiously for the last group. Tallstar watched, long tail raised, as the monsters just kept coming. Every time it seemed like a break was coming, another monster would come roaring towards them.

Finally, Fireheart saw Tallstar crouch down. "After this blue one! One, two…" The monster zoomed past them, and the WindClan leader roared, "Go!"

The group began to run across. Fireheart spotted Bluefur straggling behind. The senior warrior was panting heavily, but she was doing her best to keep up with the faster warriors.

A huge monster was racing towards them from their right, with no indication of slowing. Tallstar seemed to realize this as he suddenly skidded to a halt and yowled, "Stop! There's a monster coming!"

A few of the faster warriors kept going, and ran safely to the other side. Some panicked and froze in place, right in the path of the oncoming monster. The rest managed to stop, like Tallstar, and began to shout for their clanmates to move.

The monster was only a few fox-lengths away when the cats finally came to their senses and leaped back, but one trembling she-cat stared back at the monster, frozen in place. Fireheart watched as Bluefur shot forward and grabbed the she-cat by the scruff. She pulled back, and the monster charged past.

Fireheart heard a sickening crunch, and his heart dropped to his stomach. He sighed in relief as he saw that Bluefur was still standing, but after Runningpaw gasped, he realized what had happened.

Though the she-cat was still alive, she was splayed out on the Thunderpath, moaning in pain. The closest warriors hurried to her aid, helped her to her paws, and began to lead her to the other side.

"Did she get hit?" Fireheart meowed. "I heard something—" he swallowed back his words as he saw her tail. It had been crushed, and was now a mangled, bloody mess. He felt sick as he saw that the end of it lay on the Thunderpath where the monster had ran right over it. "Great StarClan," he whispered.

"Poor Wrenflight!" Runningpaw exclaimed. "That looks horrible."

The group finished crossing before another monster came, and Wrenflight immediately collapsed as soon as grass was under her paws. "My tail!" she wailed. "It hurts so much!"

Mudclaw lashed his tail in contempt. "If you had moved when Tallstar gave the order, you wouldn't have lost it!"

"Mudclaw," Tallstar growled. "Leave her be." He padded closer to Wrenflight and glanced around. "Barkface," he meowed. "Where's Barkface?"

Fireheart stepped aside as a brown tom padded by him. "I'm here, Tallstar." He crouched beside Wrenflight and studied her tail for a moment. He glanced back up at Tallstar. "There's not really anything I can do right now. I'll have to find something later to keep off infection, but… We're just going to have to carry on."

Wrenflight let out a low whimper, but after a few moments, she pushed herself up to her paws. A young brown tabby rushed to her side and let her lean against him.

"You heard Barkface," Tallstar meowed. "We go on."

* * *

Sandbird's muscles ached as she flopped down in her nest. She had just come back from a hunting patrol, and had chased a rabbit for far too long before she'd managed to catch it. Finally, however, she was in her nest and able to rest.

After a short groom of her dusty pelt, she curled up in a tight ball, and it wasn't long before she finally drifted off.

Sandbird awoke in a forest. She immediately felt uneasy—this wasn't ThunderClan's lush forest. The earth smelled of muck and death, the trees seemed to be rotting, and the sky was dark overhead, even though it didn't quite seem to be night. Her paws squelched in the mud as she took a cautious step forward.

 _What is this place?_ she wondered. This had to be a dream, and yet… it felt eerily real. She angled her ears around, trying to catch any sound of life, but all she heard was the rustling of tree branches.

 _I guess I'll just… walk_.

Sandbird slowly started to pad through the forest. She wasn't sure how long she had been walking when her ears catch the faintest sound of voices up ahead. The ginger she-cat started to walk faster, and the voices get louder.

Her ears flattened nervously as she heard growls and hisses—someone was fighting. She swallowed before she pushed through the undergrowth. A clearing stood before her, and two cats were rolling in the dirt, wrestling for dominance. She spotted two other cats stalking around at the edge of the clearing. _It almost looks like a training session,_ she thought. _But these cats are too old to be apprentices!_

With a jolt, she realized one of the fighting cats was Tigerclaw. With a snarl, his claws sliced through his opponent's nose.

Sandbird stared across the clearing at the two onlookers. One was Thistlestar, watching with a dark gleam in his eye, and the other was a huge tortoiseshell she-cat she had never seen before. Almost as soon as she recognized him, Thistlestar caught her gaze. "Stop," he ordered.

Tigerclaw rolled away from his opponent and sat down, head held high. The other tom slunk a few paces back to tend to his bleeding nose.

"We have a guest," Thistlestar meowed. "Sandbird, come out of the ferns."

 _I've no choice now_ , she thought, and stepped forward cautiously. "Sorry for intruding," she said. "Though I'm not… sure where we are."

Tigerclaw looked on at her with a mixture of surprise and respect in his eyes. _He didn't expect to see me here,_ Sandbird thought. _But Thistlestar doesn't seem surprised at all._

"Hardly matters where we are," Thistlestar chuckled. "All you need know is that only the _best_ warriors can come to train here with us." He nodded to the tortoiseshell she-cat beside him. "This is Mapleshade. The tom Tigerclaw was sparring with is Blackfoot."

 _Blackfoot!_ Sandbird had hardly remembered what the former deputy looked like—but he looked nothing like his former self. Blackfoot had always looked proud and strong, sitting among the Clan deputies, but now he was scrawny and his pelt was filthy. _He really_ does _look like a rogue._

 _Mapleshade, though… I've never heard that name before._ She glanced back at the she-cat, who had an unreadable expression as she stared back at Sandbird.

"This is a dream, though, isn't it?" Sandbird asked. "How can you all be here?"

Tigerclaw snorted, and Mapleshade rolled her eyes.

Thistlestar only flicked an ear. "Medicine cats dream with StarClan to learn. Why shouldn't great warriors be able to do the same?"

 _So this is StarClan!_ The thought both excited and confused her. _It's… not what I imagined, though. Everything seems like it's… rotting. Maybe there's different parts of StarClan?_ She pushed the thought away. It wasn't for her to question her ancestors. _If Thistlestar is telling the truth, they chose_ me _to dream with them._

She couldn't resist the small wave of pride that thought brought.

Her leader didn't wait for a response. Thistlestar twitched his tail and meowed, "This is where we learn how to be better warriors. Far better than any other." He jerked his head towards Mapleshade. "I've already spoken to Mapleshade about you."

Mapleshade sat and drew her tongue over her paw. "I've observed you fighting," she said. "You have potential. I told Thistlestar I would train you. My last apprentice… was a disappointment."

 _She's going to train me?_ Sandbird frowned. _Is_ this _what Thistlestar was talking about after the battle?_

Tigerclaw glanced at the StarClan warrior, surprised. Blackfoot just continued to ignore them as he licked his wounds.

"You don't seem excited," the tortoiseshell meowed. "Don't you _want_ to become one of the greatest warriors in the forest?"

"I… yes," Sandbird stammered. "I'm sorry. I just… wasn't expecting this."

Mapleshade purred, as though amused. "Come along. Let's leave the toms to their fighting. It's clear who's winning here." She cast a sour glance at Blackfoot, who only showed his teeth.

Blackfoot still confused her. _What's a rogue doing training in StarClan?_ Sandbird wondered. _Or did ShadowClan take him back in? He was one of Brokenstar's closest followers!_

Still, Sandbird obediently crossed the clearing and followed Mapleshade as the she-cat turned and led her away, back into dense, dark undergrowth.

"Again!" she heard Thistlestar yowl. "Put some effort into it, Blackfoot, or you'll be feeling _my_ claws next!"

"Where are we going?" Sandbird asked, glancing at Mapleshade. The large she-cat was thoroughly intimidating—she was bigger than even Tigerclaw, and had countless battle scars across her pelt. She had a feeling Mapleshade could easily take even _Thistlestar_ in a fight.

"I'm going to introduce you to some other cats," Mapleshade said. "Many cats here stick to the shadows… but these cats help to train better warriors—or are in training themselves. You'll work alongside them often."

 _I'm going to meet_ more _StarClan warriors?_ Sandbird thought. _I wonder what Ravenpaw would say!_

They padded on for a few minutes in silence. Up ahead, Sandbird could hear a few quiet voices, and this time, it didn't seem like anyone was fighting.

Mapleshade stopped her short of the next clearing. "Before you meet these cats," she meowed, "You must promise not to speak to any of your Clanmates about what you hear, see, or learn here. Training here is a _secret_. Can you make that promise?" her glittering eyes felt piercing as she stared hard at Sandbird.

"I—I promise," Sandbird quickly replied. _I guess it's like how medicine cats can't share what StarClan tells them?_

"Good," Mapleshade purred. "My last apprentice didn't know how to keep his promises. Let's hope you aren't a disappointment like him." She flicked her tail, signaling for Sandbird to follow. "Come along then."

Sandbird swallowed as she followed her into the clearing. Something just felt _off_ about this place… but Sandbird couldn't figure out what it was.

* * *

The sun was setting behind the traveling Clan. They had walked all day without stopping to rest, and kept a surprisingly fast pace for such starved cats.

Fireheart noted the exhaustion in their eyes, however. Some of the worse-off cats seemed ready to collapse at any moment.

"Just a little further," Bluestar meowed to Tallstar. The two had been at the head of the group for most of the day. Fireheart and Snowbird had followed close behind, and Runningpaw had quietly stayed close to Fireheart ever since they crossed the Thunderpath. "My friend will let us stay with him. We can continue on to WindClan in the morning."

Fireheart pricked his ears hopefully. _We'll stay with Barley again?_ His mouth began to water at the thought of all the plump mice that seemed to infest the barn.

Tallstar nodded tiredly. "I wish we could just go all the way," he admitted. "But my Clan is too tired—and so am I."

"You'll be home soon," Bluefur promised. "And there is no Brokenstar to fight your Clan now."

"What happened to him?" Tallstar asked, voice taking on a sharp edge. "Is he dead?"

Bluefur shook her head. "No. He was banished from the Clan and stripped of his leader's name. He only has a few followers left, but whether they stick together or parted ways, I do not know. We haven't seen a whisker of them since."

Tallstar lashed his tail. "He should have died for his crimes."

Bluefur didn't reply. Fireheart couldn't tell if she was avoiding offending the leader, or if she privately agreed with him.

They reached Barley's barn by the time the sun had fully set. The journey back was much shorter than it had been to find WindClan—this time, they weren't wandering aimlessly, and every cat from the apprentices to the weakest elder had pushed themselves as hard as they could.

Barley was waiting at the entrance to the barn when they all made it to the top of the hill. "I saw you all coming a while ago," he meowed, not seeming put-off by the appearance of an entire Clan on his hunting grounds. He grinned at Bluefur. "Guess your mission was a success, huh?" Without waiting for a reply, he turned and padded inside. "You're all welcome to stay as long as you need."

One by one, the cats followed Barley into the barn. The WindClan cats seemed to perk up at the idea of a nest and at the tantalizing scent of mice that filled the barn.

Fireheart was exhausted, but his stomach urged him to stay awake and find a meal. He peeled off from the group, trying to scent the air.

"You're welcome to as many mice as you all need," Barley was telling Tallstar. "There's more than I can eat, that's for sure!"

Fireheart still wasn't used to hunting this sort of prey, but he managed to catch two plump mice. Somehow, the presence of so many cats didn't seem to scare the mice away, and every cat was able to eat something.

After Fireheart devoured his mice, he found himself a place to sleep, and curled up on a soft pile of hay.


	9. Chapter 8

**Look at that! Only a month and a half between updates this time! I'm in a bit of a hurry, so no time for replies, but thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

* * *

" _Again!"_

Sandbird clenched her teeth with irritation as she pushed herself back up to her paws. Her muscles ached from the long training, but Mapleshade just kept pushing her. Snowtuft, a small white tom, stood a fox-length away, shifting his weight from side to side in anticipation.

"You strike and _twist away_ ," Mapleshade snapped, clearly exasperated with Sandbird's lack of success. "Honestly, Sandbird, you're like an apprentice on her first day!"

Snowtuft shrugged apologetically. Most cats that took place in training were much like Mapleshade—tough, intimidating, and often short-tempered. Snowtuft seemed to be the friendliest of the bunch, but Sandbird was wary of even him. The StarClan cat had died young, apparently, and the scar that killed him still split his handsome pelt from throat to belly.

Even with his soft appearances, Snowtuft put up as much of a fight against Sandbird as any other cat she sparred with.

' _He's talented, sure,'_ Mapleshade had remarked to her earlier. ' _But a coward at heart.'_

Mapleshade lashed her tail impatiently. "Now. Do it again."

Snowtuft charged at her. When he was within striking distance, she reared up and swiped at his shoulder. Snowtuft ducked, reaching for her legs with outstretched claws. Sandbird twisted away in time and planted her forepaws firmly on the ground, making it impossible for the smaller cat to topple her over again. Before, he had easily been able to pull a leg out from under her and knock her over—he'd done it three times before this.

"Finally," Mapleshade sighed. "You still need to _actually hit him_ , but I suppose pulling off the dodge will be fine for now."

The remark didn't bother Sandbird. She had quickly learned that Mapleshade gave true praise rarely, and she was being less scathing than usual as it was.

"You can go back to the clearing," her StarClan mentor went on. "Maybe someone else will have something for you to do. I have my own business to attend to." She shrugged. "It's almost morning, anyway."

Sandbird nodded gratefully, though she hardly wanted to go to the clearing. She still couldn't figure out what just was strange about the spirits here, but she couldn't say that she trusted any of them entirely. Some ignored or just stared at her with odd looks in their eyes, others growled if she came too close, and the rest were far _too_ interested in her for her liking. The latter tended to be among the most intimidating of the lot to begin with, and they frequently asked her strange, leading questions like _don't you_ want _to protect your Clanmates_ and _don't you think some Clan cats these days are too soft_ and _aren't you so grateful to be here_ , and Sandbird felt like something bad would happen if she didn't give the answers they clearly wanted to hear.

She was already learning new things, yes, but she didn't like being here, even if she hadn't been able to figure out just what was wrong with the place yet.

"I'll walk back with you," Snowtuft offered.

Sandbird considered refusing, but after a moment, she nodded. "Alright." In the couple of nights she'd been training, she hadn't become familiar with the area at all. There were no landmarks to remember—just the dark, smelly woods and occasional clearing.

Snowtuft wordlessly led the way out of clearing and back into the undergrowth.

They walked together quietly for a few minutes. After a while, Snowtuft glanced at her. "Mapleshade must be a pain to train with," he said. "I've been around here for _so_ long, and Mapleshade scares me more than anyone else. I'd almost rather go back to wandering alone than get on her bad side…"

Sandbird shrugged. "I've been learning, though." She found herself staring at the pink scar that ran down his throat. "I've been wondering about something."

"Huh?" Snowtuft blinked. "What about?"

"Don't your injuries go away when you go to StarClan?" she blurted. "Sorry. But that's what I've always heard."

Snowtuft stared at her oddly. "Uh… I wouldn't really know anything about that. Maybe?"

Sandbird's eyes widened. _Wait, what? Maybe? Why wouldn't he know if—_

She felt something jab her in the stomach, and suddenly, Sandbird was lying in her nest, with Dustclaw looming over her.

"You're on our patrol," Dustpelt huffed. "You've slept in almost past sun-high, mouse-brain."

"Sorry," Sandbird grunted. "I'll be out in a second."

"Don't be long," Dustclaw meowed. "Longtail is about to come in and drag you out himself. Tigerclaw is coming, too." He didn't wait for a reply as he quickly headed back out of the warriors' den.

Sandbird sat up slowly. Her mind was still stuck on Snowtuft. _This isn't adding up,_ she thought. _If Snowtuft is from StarClan, why wouldn't he know something as simple as that?_

* * *

Fireheart woke up just past dawn. He sat up and stretched, before he took a long look around the barn. Some cats were still asleep, but it seemed that most were awake and sniffing out the barn's mice for an easy meal.

Bluefur and Tallstar were speaking quietly in the center of the barn. Both looked tired, but Fireheart noticed the way Tallstar's tail twitched with impatience. _He wants to go home,_ he thought. _I can't blame him._ Fireheart could hardly wait to curl up a proper nest and see his Clan again, but it was hard to imagine being gone for so long.

He rose and padded up to join them. They paused their conversation to nod shortly to him as he came closer.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," Fireheart meowed, a little apologetically.

"Actually—" Bluefur started, tone implying that he was indeed interrupting, but Tallstar flicked her with his tail.

"No, nothing important," Tallstar said. "Just catching up on the going-ons of the Clans."

Fireheart felt a little guilty when Bluefur gave him a pointed look, but the WindClan leader had made it clear he was welcome, so he sat. "I was just wondering when we would leave," he meowed. "I'm sure you want to get home."

"Yes," Tallstar nodded. "Not too long before we go. Barkface is out searching for something to put on Morningflower's tail. We'll leave after."

Bluefur flicked her tail. "Well. I'm going to go see if I can find a mouse before then." She rose stiffly and padded away.

 _I've gone and offended her again,_ Fireheart thought, a little dryly.

Tallstar didn't seem to mind her leaving. "Why don't you come outside with me?" he meowed. "You can keep me company while I wait for Barkface to get back."

"Sure," Fireheart purred. It was odd, having a leader show such interest in him. Crookedstar seemed to like him well enough, but he didn't pay much attention to him. Besides, he was still curious to learn about the cat that had been close with his father. _I'm hungry, but I'd rather to wait to get my paws on a fish when I get home._

Tallstar stood and led the way out of the barn. Fireheart felt warmed by the sunlight as they found a nice patch of grass to sit in. It was one of the last warm days to come, he knew, as leaf-bare was approaching.

"I should've had my Clan settle somewhere like this," Tallstar purred. "But I'm sure Barley would've gotten tired of us eventually."

Fireheart nodded. After a moment of silence, he glanced at the WindClan leader. A bit hesitantly, he asked, "Will you tell me about Jake?"

Tallstar smiled faintly. "I told you was my best friend," he meowed. "And he was. It was so long ago that I last saw him, and it seems now that I knew him for such little time, but he remains my dearest friend."

"How did you meet him?" Fireheart asked. _It's still hard to see how a_ leader _could befriend a kittypet!_

"I wasn't always the leader I am," Tallstar laughed. "I was a young cat once, and I was angry. My own father died when I was just an apprentice, and I blamed a traveler for it. I never let go of it, and when I became a warrior, I ran away from my Clan to hunt him down."

Fireheart's eyes widened. _He left his Clan? I can't even imagine doing that._

Tallstar shuffled his paws. "I met Jake when I was wandering in the Twolegplace. The first time we met, I found him getting attacked by a dog. I didn't think much of him then, but I later ate a poisoned rat and he brought me to his twoleg, who cured me. I guess we saved each other, really." He shook his head a little. "I could not talk that stubborn cat out of coming with me after that!"

Fireheart laughed. "My mother said something about him being the most stubborn cat she'd ever met."

Tallstar glanced at him. "You said you weren't close to him," he remarked. "That must've been hard."

Fireheart shrugged. "No… not really. Like I said, it's not the same for kittypets. Most kits go away to their own twoleg den by the time they're a couple moons old. I hardly remember what my littermates looked like. So we aren't all that close with our parents." He paused for a moment, before adding, "But I like how close the Clans are."

"I invited Jake to live with me after my journey was over," Tallstar suddenly meowed. "He had helped me to realize that revenge wasn't what I needed. But he said his place was in the Twolegplace." He sighed quietly. "I tortured myself for moons over why he wouldn't come with. But I suppose all things happen for a reason." He smiled at Fireheart. "After all, if he hadn't gone back, you would have never come to save our Clan."

Fireheart flattened his ears with embarrassment. _It's true that RiverClan likely wouldn't have helped,_ he thought. _But Bluefur and Snowbird are as much a part of this as I am._

They both looked out over the hillside. _It's a beautiful day,_ Fireheart thought. _I can't wait to get home. I wonder how things are with everyone._

"Tallstar!"

Fireheart jumped a little. Barkface was racing up the hillside, a panicked look on his face. "Tallstar!" he called again.

"Barkface?" Tallstar meowed. "What's the matter?"

Barkface came to a halt in front of him. He panted heavily for a moment, before he spit out, "I saw a sign!"

Fireheart blinked. _A sign?_

"What was it, Barkface?" Tallstar asked. "You look terrified."

Barkface took a breath. "It was in the clouds… this day will bring an unnecessary death!"

 _The… the clouds?_ Fireheart tipped back his head to stare up at the sky. He could not see anything unusual among the soft white clouds, and frowned.

"They were stained with blood," Barkface explained. "The sign was clear!"

Tallstar shifted uncomfortably. "Your signs have never been wrong before. But we must continue our journey. We are close to home."

Barkface nodded, but he still looked worried. "What will you tell the Clan?"

Tallstar rose. "Nothing," he said. "We don't need to panic them when we've come so far. Perhaps the sign wasn't even about one of our own."

"But—" Barkface furrowed his brow, but after a moment, he sighed and nodded. "No, you're right. We must return without worrying them any more. We're all stressed and tired."

Fireheart felt doubtful, but he didn't speak up. It would be foolish to do so in front of his _own_ leader and medicine cat, but he would look plain stupid trying to tell some from another Clan how to handle their matters. _It's not my place, but… I wonder how much leaders keep from their Clans._

"Let's wake the Clan," Tallstar decided. "It's time to go."

* * *

The trek down the hillside towards WindClan was short, and it was not long before the Clan began to brighten with recognition of their territory.

"Oh, that's the old fox den!" Runningpaw exclaimed, as the slope began to move back upwards. She left Fireheart's side to hurry to another young cat. "Remember when we had to fight him off?"

"Of course I do!" Laughed her friend. He shot a look at an older warrior. "Flywhisker chased that mange-pelt halfway across the territory!"

Tallstar led the way up the moor with a fast pace, as though the sight of his old home had rejuvenated him. Some warriors began to run on ahead of him, tails whipping in the wind.

The clouds overhead had thickened and darkened since morning, and Fireheart could smell rain on the breeze. He found himself thinking of his own home again. _I hope the den won't be leaking. Last time it rained, we might as well have been sleeping in the river._ He purred a little to himself at the thought. _Vixenfrost and Silverthorn complained all night until Blackclaw threatened to drag them out!_

It wasn't long before they reached the top of the slope. The WindClan cats yowled with glee as they spotted an outline of bushes and stones—the camp's boundary. The cats each raced towards their camp, and Fireheart and his companions stood back and looked on.

Snowbird padded to Fireheart's side, eyes gleaming. "We really did it!" she exclaimed. "We brought them back!"

"You did." Fireheart and Snowbird both looked back towards the camp. Tallstar had stayed behind. "And our thanks go with the three of you. May StarClan light your paths."

Bluefur dipped her head to the leader. "And your Clan's as well. I hope WindClan has peace while you recover."

Tallstar nodded, and turned away. He paused for a moment, before he meowed, "Wait a moment! I will send a few warriors to help you home."

He bounded into the bushes, and a few moments later, returned with Deadfoot and a warrior around Fireheart's age. "They will see you to Fourtrees."

Bluefur, as always, seemed put-off, but she only nodded her thanks. "Farewell, Tallstar."

Deadfoot and the warrior joined them quickly. "Let's get moving," he said. "I'm sure we'd all like to be home before the rain sets in."

Snowbird sighed dreamily. "Oh, I can't wait to lay in my nest!"

"I'm Onewhisker," the warrior meowed, with a friendly nod to Fireheart. "You're off to RiverClan, aren't you?"

"Yes," Fireheart replied, as they started to walk.

"Perhaps we should split up," Onewhisker suggested, with a flick of his tail at Deadfoot. "One of us can go with Snowbird to Fourtrees, and the other can head through RiverClan territory. It'll be faster for Fireheart and Bluefur to go that way."

Bluefur nodded. "That makes sense to me. Normally I wouldn't feel safe cutting through their territory, but all Clans agreed to this journey. There should be no trouble."

Deadfoot shrugged. "I see no reason why not, then. You can take Snowbird to Fourtrees when we get to the border."

They set off again down the moor. Fireheart could smell rabbit on the breeze, but he knew better than to try hunting now that WindClan was back. His stomach pained with hunger, but he pushed it back. _We're nearly home,_ he told himself. _There'll be plenty of food there._

They travelled on quietly, and soon reached the bottom of the slope. Fireheart could see Fourtrees in the distance straight ahead, while the river veered off towards their right.

"This is where I'll leave you," Onewhisker meowed. "Snowbird, I'll go with you to to Fourtrees."

"Okay!" she purred. The young warrior looked up at Fireheart. "Bye, Fireheart!" she chirped. "It was fun traveling with you." She cast a quick look at Bluefur. "Bye, Bluefur! You aren't as mean and prickly as you try to be." With a whip of her tail, she bounded on through the grass and towards Fourtrees.

Onewhisker looked on, a bemused look on his face. "Is she always that full of energy?"

"Yes," Fireheart and Bluefur both quickly answered.

The ginger warrior watched as Onewhisker took off after her. _Snowbird is a sweet cat,_ he thought, fondly. _I hope ShadowClan really is better under Russetstar's leadership. She deserves it._

"Let's keep going," Deadfoot meowed. He turned to head towards the river.

"You don't have to go all the way with us," Bluefur said. "You must be tired."

"I'd like to see you make it home," Deadfoot replied, glancing over his shoulder. "WindClan really does owe a debt to you both."

Fireheart shrugged at her and followed after the WindClan deputy. _I don't mind the company._ He already missed Snowbird's cheery attitude, and it wouldn't hurt to have a seasoned warrior guide them a little further.

* * *

Rain had started to fall as they made their way along the riverside. Here, this ft upstream, they were still going along the gorge. Just a bit more of a walk ahead would lay the falls, and past that, the twoleg bridge. Already Fireheart could hear the roar of the falling water, and knew that RiverClan territory was close. _His_ territory.

They passed a boulder that was used as a scent marker, and Fireheart began to prick his ears with excitement. He could smell the familiar scents of his home, even under the drizzle.

"How does RiverClan stand the noise of these falls?" Deadfoot asked, as they neared the point where the river dropped down into a waterfall.

"We don't hunt here much," Fireheart replied with a shrug. The river isn't close enough to the edge for us to fish anyway."

"RiverClan tries to keep a lot of land they don't use," sniffed Bluefur.

Fireheart shot her an irritated look. _Really?_ he thought. _Is she already trying to spark up old rivalries when we haven't even gotten home?_

Deadfoot glanced between the two of them, a bit confused, before he coughed awkwardly. "Well. We've crossed into RiverClan territory. Where should Bluefur cross to get home?"

"Well," Fireheart started, trying to force back an annoyed tone. "She can either go straight towards the Owl Tree and keep going from there, or cross the stream after the bridge and go through Sunningrocks."

"I'll go with you to the bridge," Bluefur decided. "I can just follow the stream past it towards camp."

"Sounds good," Deadfoot meowed. "I'll head back once you two split up."

Fireheart gave him a grateful nod. "Thank you for coming so far with us," he said. _If she won't thank him, at least I will._

They headed on in silence. Bluefur didn't seem the least bit pleased to be on her way home—though she never seemed 'pleased' to begin with—and Deadfoot wasn't eager to strike up conversation when she and Fireheart wouldn't even speak to each other.

The trio finally reached the bridge. The rain had picked up steadily, and the sky was beginning to darken. The river was still far below them here, but the ground would soon slope down and the river would be much slower and calmer. Fireheart could still hear the roar of the river, and for a brief moment, he recalled when Silverthorn had threatened to push him over the edge and into the rapids. _I would've died if he'd done it,_ Fireheart thought with a shudder.

They headed past the bridge. In the distance, Fireheart could see the forest and the stream downhill that outlined the ThunderClan border.

"Almost there," Deadfoot said. He sounded just as tired as Fireheart felt. His muscles were aching, and all he wanted was to flop down in his nest and devour some fresh-kill. _I should've eaten this morning,_ he thought.

Suddenly, they heard the yowls of oncoming cats, and Fireheart looked around in confusion. He turned around to see a RiverClan patrol racing over the bridge. "Oh!" He lifted his tail in greeting. _Leopardfur, Whiteclaw, Voleclaw, Sedgecreek, Petaldust,_ and _Sunfish? Why is the patrol so big?_

His excitement died as he realized the patrol was racing towards them, yowling and hissing and not looking welcoming in the slightest. _They're going to attack!_

"Stop!" he called. "It's me! I'm back!"

"ThunderClan roach!" Leopardfur snarled. She ignored Fireheart completely as she darted past him and leaped for Bluefur.

"Get off of me!" Bluefur snapped as Leopardfur easily knocked her to the ground. "I'm traveling with your warrior!"

Deadfoot was startled, and looked unsure of what to do. "Leopardfur!" he gasped. "She's only returning home, just like your warrior!"

The RiverClan cats surrounded them, but looked just as uncertain as Deadfoot. "Leopardfur!" Whiteclaw hissed. "What do you want us to do?"

"Attack!" Leopardfur spat, as though it should be obvious. "These two are intruders! Don't forget what ThunderClan did to us!"

Whiteclaw and Blackclaw both charged for Deadfoot, but the rest of the patrol simply surrounded them. There was doubt clear in their eyes.

"What are you blathering about?" Bluefur choked out, as Leopardfur held her down. "I've been traveling to find WindClan, as all Clans agreed!"

"Silence!" Leopardfur hissed. "You will be the first to pay for what ThunderClan has done. Fireheart, help your Clanmates punish the intruders!"

"Leopardfur, please!" Fireheart protested, trying to keep his voice above the rain and the roaring river. "Deadfoot and I were leading Bluefur to the border! We all agreed to bring WindClan home, and we have!"

Before she could reply, another set of yowls rang out from the direction of the woods. Fireheart's heart sank as he saw a group of cats leaping across the thin stream and charging towards them. _ThunderClan must have heard and came running!_

Tigerclaw came leading the patrol, and he let out a fearsome cry as he raced for Leopardfur. The RiverClan deputy hissed furiously, and abandoned Bluefur to meet his attack.

The RiverClan patrol no longer hesitated. They threw themselves at the newcomers, hissing and spitting.

Fireheart swallowed. _We're too close to the gorge to fight like this!_ But it was too late to try and calm either side down. The warriors were already fighting. Something had clearly happened while Fireheart had been away, but what? _Have they stolen Sunningrocks again?_ _I don't understand!_

His eyes widened as he recognized Sandbird. The she-cat raked her claws down Voleclaw's side. Voleclaw hissed before he retaliated with a swipe to the face. The ThunderClan she-cat jumped back to avoid it, and landed right at the edge of the gorge.

"Watch out!" Fireheart yowled.

Sandbird's eyes widened with fear as the ground crumbled out from beneath her hind paws. With a yelp, she began to slide down towards the cliffside. She scrabbled desperately to cling to the edge, but she couldn't haul herself up.

Without thinking, Fireheart ran to her. He stopped in front of her, heart racing. "I'm going to pull you up!" he quickly meowed. "You're going to need to push up with your legs."

Sandbird stared up at him. All traces of her normal bravado were gone, and he could hardly blame her. He crouched down and sank his teeth into her scruff. With all his strength, he pulled back. Sandbird was still for a moment, as though dazed, but she quickly snapped out of it and began to push against the precipice with her legs. With great effort, he managed to haul her up over the edge, and both cats collapsed safely in the rain-soaked grass.

Sandbird stared at him, eyes still rounded with fear.

Before Fireheart could say anything, he heard a desperate cry.

"Help! No!"

He looked over his shoulder in time to see Graystripe desperately reaching down the gorge, and the tip of Whiteclaw's paw disappear over the side.

Whiteclaw's final caterwaul could be heard echoing through the gorge, and all cats froze.

Fireheart stared at Graystripe in disbelief. _No!_

"I didn't mean to!" Graystripe wailed. The soaking gray warrior looked truly distraught as he turned back to face both patrols. "We just kept rolling towards the edge, and I didn't see him go over, and…" his voice trailed off as Leopardfur fixed him with a rage-filled glare.

The RiverClan deputy whipped around to face Tigerclaw. "First you murder Frogleap, and now your warrior kills Whiteclaw!" Her voice was thick with grief and rage. "How much more must your bloodthirsty Clan take from mine?"

"Wh-what?" Fireheart choked out. _Frogleap is dead?_ He slowly sat back up and stared at Tigerclaw. _He killed Frogleap?_

"It was an accident, I swear!" Graystripe tried, but both deputies ignored him.

Tigerclaw looked sickeningly calm. "Come, ThunderClan," he said. "It's time to go home."

Fireheart expected Leopardfur to order them to attack again, but her shoulders only slumped hopelessly. He had never seen her look so defeated.

Sandbird hurried to her paws, still panting softly. She started to pad past Fireheart, but paused for a moment. "Thank you," she whispered.

Fireheart nodded quickly to her as she headed to join the patrol. Bluefur caught his glance for a heartbeat. The queen looked tired, and she simply shook her head. _This is bad for both our Clans,_ he thought.

"Come on," Leopardfur hoarsely whispered. "We need to go home."

* * *

RiverClan huddled together in the rain to mourn Whiteclaw. With no body, the vigil was even more somber that Oakheart's had been.

Few cats spoke to him when he returned. The mood in the Clan was already bad before the news of Whiteclaw's death. Whatever had happened to Frogleap, it had clearly been bad.

Grassfoot's pelt brushed against Fireheart's as his friend moved to crouch beside him. "Welcome back," he murmured. "Did you really find WindClan?"

Fireheart nodded. The excitement of his journey and return home was gone, and he only felt weariness. "Is Frogleap really gone?"

"Yes," sighed Grassfoot. "It was terrible. We didn't realize he was missing until we got back to camp—we'd been fighting for Sunningrocks and lost—but by the time we sent a patrol to check Sunningrocks, they'd… disposed of his body."

Fireheart stiffened. "What do you mean?"

Grassfoot's voice took on a hard edge. "They threw his body in the river. It took another day to find it. It had gotten stuck against a rock, but… Oh, it was just horrid to look at."

Fireheart dug his claws into the soft soil. He understood Leopardfur's rage now. _That's… horrific._ He hadn't known Frogleap well, but the tom had always been cheerful and kind. And Whiteclaw… Fireheart had no love for the sharp-tongued warrior, but he was a Clanmate, and both deaths weighed heavily upon him. _Neither of them deserved this._

His gaze travelled towards the nursery, where Mallowtail's sobs could still be heard. The queen was distraught with grief, and though Fireheart had not seen her kits, he could only imagine that they would be torn up by this.

"I didn't think I would come back to something like this," Fireheart quietly meowed. But, suddenly, he recalled Barkface's words— _This day shall bring an unnecessary death._

Fireheart felt sick. _What's the point of a sign if there's nothing we can do to stop it?_


	10. Chapter 9

**Finally, an update that isn't months later! I've been really getting back into the swing of writing lately, which has been great. I'm working on the next chapter already! This one is mostly transitional, and is super dialogue heavy, but there will be lots more happening in the next chapter, don't worry!**

 **As always, thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed! This story has been going on forever, and I really do appreciate the continued support.**

* * *

 _Two days had passed since Fireheart_ had returned to RiverClan. The whole Clan had been on edge since Whiteclaw's death, but by the way things sounded, they'd been like this since ThunderClan attacked and killed Frogleap.

Crookedstar, Leopardfur, and the senior warriors had been arguing since his return over what to do about ThunderClan. One death was a tragedy, but with the way Thistelstar had desecrated his body, and with the death of Whiteclaw, it seemed almost every cat in RiverClan wanted war.

Silverthorn was unbearable to be around, but of course, Fireheart had been assigned to a border patrol with him and Shadepelt.

"We _have_ to fight them," Silverthorn was saying. "Crookedstar would be a minnow-brain to decide otherwise! They killed Frogleap and Whiteclaw—and don't forget Oakheart, either!"

Shadepelt shook her head. "Yes, but we're also down two warriors. They should have to pay, but we can't just go invade their camp. More cats could die, and then where would we be? Leafbare is going to be upon us in a moon or so, and the river will be completely frozen over. We need as many cats as possible to hunt."

Fireheart privately agreed with Shadepelt, but he wasn't about to jump in and get berated by Silverthorn. He was still tired from his journey, and had hardly been able to get a proper rest since coming home. _What's happened has been terrible,_ he thought. _But ThunderClan is strong._

"Ugh," Silverthorn snorted. "Would you rather them kill more of us? Mallowtail's kits are about to be apprenticed. Do you want to watch them get slaughtered by ThunderClan because we let them think our Clan is weak?"

"Of course not!" Shadepelt snapped. "But at the end of the day, it isn't up to us, so I don't know why we're wasting breath arguing."

Silverthorn let out an irritated growl. He glanced over his shoulder at Fireheart. "Well?" he demanded. "You've been awfully quiet. What do you think?"

 _So much for staying out of it,_ Fireheart thought. He shrugged, trying to look unconcerned. "I don't know," he replied. "Like Shadepelt said, it's not up to us."

"For StarClan's sake!" Silverthorn exclaimed. "Do you ever think for yourself?"

Fireheart sighed. He remembered the promise he had made to Dawnbright about trying to be Silverthorn's friend, but it was easier said than done.

"It doesn't matter," Fireheart said. "They'll make a decision, and that'll be that. Are we going to patrol, or gossip?"

Shadepelt nodded. "Personally, _I_ don't want WindClan to think the Clan they share a border with is nothing but a bunch of bickering gossips."

Silverthorn growled again, but didn't argue.

Fireheart sighed quietly. _I wish he would just quit trying to pick minnow-brained fights._

* * *

ThunderClan had been tense ever since Bluefur's return. They'd managed to avoid war with her swaying the Clan, but of course, with her brief absence, Thistlestar had gone and escalated the situation to the extreme. Whiteclaw's death hadn't necessarily been his fault, but Sandbird knew his death would have been less of a harsh blow to RiverClan if he had done what he did to the other dead warrior at Sunningrocks.

No cat could argue that _having_ Sunningrocks was bad for them, however. The prey was much-needed. Every day was cooler than the last, and it seemed that Leaf-bare was just upon them. Even with the tense atmosphere, most cats were rejuvenated by the promise of steady fresh-kill.

But Sandbird was always tired. She could hardly keep up on the hunting patrol she was on. The training in StarClan was exhausting, and it felt like she hadn't slept at night. Not to mention, nearly dying by falling off the gorge had shaken her.

Worse yet, she couldn't get that mouse-brained Fireheart out of her head.

Sandbird tried to tell herself that him saving her meant nothing. Sure, any other Clan cat would've easily let her die, but he was a stupid kittypet. He didn't understand Clan things like this. (This wasn't a convincing argument, but it never stopped her from trying.)

 _It's nothing!_ she thought. _I'm just tired, that's all, and of course I'm still thinking about the gorge. I could have died!_

"Sandbird!" Runningwind hissed. "Did you hear me?"

The ginger warrior jumped a bit. "Sorry," she meowed. "I've been a little out of it."

Stonefur stared at her oddly. "You should rest," he said. "You look… very tired."

Sandbird shook her head. "I'm fine," she insisted. "What is it?"

Runningwind sighed loudly. " _Well,_ I was trying to ask what you thought about the battle with RiverClan. I heard _Graystripe_ killed someone, but for StarClan's sake, no one will talk about it!"

Stonefur cast him an exasperated glance. "Seriously? How can you be so immature?"

"What?" Runningwind blinked. "I can't know about a battle that was apparently a big deal without being _immature_?"

Stonefur snorted and shook his head. "I'm hunting alone." He turned away and quickly padded off through the undergrowth.

"Pfft!" Runningwind hissed. "Good riddance!"

Sandbird stared at him, confused. _What on earth was that?_ "Who put thorns in his nest?"

"I don't know, but he sure _acts_ like I do!" Runningwind complained. "He's always so critical of me."

Sandbird started walking again, and flicked her tail for Runningwind to follow. They cut through a narrow path through the ferns, veering off from where Stonefur had gone. "So what?" she asked, as they continued on their ask. "He's a great warrior, yeah, but it's not like you _need_ his approval."

"Are you forgetting he's Mistyfoot's brother?" Runningwind asked, dryly. "She doesn't like us bickering, and keeps telling me to 'try to get along with him', but it always seems like _I'm_ the only one trying! I _know_ he thinks I'm not good enough for her."

Sandbird stared ahead, feeling awkward. _This… really isn't something I want to be involved in. But… I guess it's a good distraction._ She wasn't one to get involved in personal drama, but perhaps it would take her mind off of that mouse-brained RiverClanner. "Why do you say that?"

Runningwind scoffed, as though it should be obvious. "He's _always_ berating me. Telling me I should be hunting better, that I should make Mistyfoot better nests, or that I should've thought to bring the elders fresh bedding—which is an _apprentice task_!—or that I'm just too _immature_ for poor Mistyfoot!" He growled quietly. "I don't see _him_ off fetching bedding or making nests for _my_ mate!"

"I'm sorry," Sandbird replied. "That sounds like it's tiring."

"Tiring is an understatement," Runningwind muttered. "Anyway… what _did_ happen at the battle?"

Sandbird resisted the urge to roll her eyes. _So much for taking my mind off of it!_ "There's not much to tell," she meowed. "A RiverClan warrior died, but Graystripe didn't _murder_ him or anything. He fell off the gorge on accident."

Runningwind swished his tail. "That's it? By the way everyone's acting, it was another Longtail incident."

Sandbird frowned. "That wasn't his fault."

"I know." Runningwind's voice was softer. "But it had everyone… upset. Rightfully." He sighed and shook his head. "Anyway, where are we going?"

Sandbird took a look around their surroundings. "Seems like we're close to Snakerocks," she said. "Why not go there?"

"Don't know that we'll find much," Runningwind replied. "But no one's hunted there for a few days. That's fine with me."

Sandbird led the way, but she still could hardly focus on finding prey. _I'll march over to RiverClan myself and throw him off the gorge if he doesn't get out of my head!_

* * *

By sun-high, Fireheart's patrol returned to camp, and he couldn't have been more relieved. They hadn't talked again since their argument, and it had been uncomfortable to be around the irritated siblings.

Fireheart headed straight for the fresh-kill pile. Grassfoot and Silverstream were both picking through the pile already, and looked up as he approached.

"How was your patrol?" Silverstream asked, giving him a friendly blink.

"Ugh," Fireheart groaned. "All they wanted to do was bicker about ThunderClan."

Grassfoot pawed out a small finch. "Yeah, seems like that's all anyone wants to talk about."

Silverstream shook her head tiredly. "I wish my father would tell me what he's thinking. But even I don't know what he's going to decide, and everyone wants my opinion."

Fireheart retrieved a small trout, and the three padded over to their usual spot at the edge of camp to eat. "Camp seems pretty empty," Fireheart commented, as he took a look around the clearing. Only Loudbelly was on patrol, and Reedtail was sitting outside the nursery with his kits. "Where is everyone?"

"The senior warriors are _still_ in Crookedstar's den," Silverstream explained. "Most everyone else is patrolling." She glanced over at the medicine cats' den and sighed. "Heavystep is talking to Mudfur and Yellowfang."

Fireheart tipped his head to the side. "Huh? About what?"

Silverstream hesitated, but after a moment, shook her head quickly and looked down at her paws. "It's not mine to share."

"But you do know?" Grassfoot asked. "I mean, you two _are_ pretty close."

Silverstream looked back up, eyes narrowed. "It's Heavystep's business!" she snapped.

Fireheart gave his chest an awkward lick. _Something must really be wrong,_ he thought. _But pushing Silverstream isn't going to help._ He bent down to take a bite of his fresh-kill. _I suppose we'll find out if something really is wrong._

He found himself watching the nursery as he ate. He had only seen Pinekit and Sprucekit once, when he visited after they were born. This must have only be their first or second day in camp, for the tiny kits were staring around in awe.

Sprucekit seemed to notice him watching, and she quietly gasped. "Father!" she squeaked. "Who are those cats? Are they warriors?"

Reedtail followed her gaze to the three warriors, and purred quietly. "Yes, Sprucekit. Would you like to meet them?"

"Yes!" Without waiting for her father, she jumped up and raced across the camp to where they sat. Grassfoot and Silverstream both looked up and smiled at the kit as she halted just short of them.

Pinekit followed along slowly, staying just behind Reedtail as they walked over.

"Hello!" Sprucekit meowed, as she stared up at Fireheart. "Your fur is so bright! It's like a crawfish!"

Fireheart couldn't resist laughing. "Really? I haven't heard that one before."

Sprucekit nodded eagerly. "Reedtail showed me a crawfish that he found! It pinched his nose!"

Reedtail sat between Grassfoot and Fireheart. "Sorry for the intrusion," he chuckled. "I can take them elsewhere if they're a bother."

"They certainly aren't," Silverstream purred. She seemed to have calmed down by the sight of the kits. "We're only eating."

Grassfoot grinned at Pinekit, who was still pressed close to Reedtail's side. She didn't seem afraid, but was certainly unwilling to leave him. "Have you tried food yet?"

Pinekit shook her head silently, and Reedtail spoke for her. "No, they'll still be nursing for another half-moon."

" _I_ want to try some!" Sprucekit meowed, with a hopeful look at Reedtail.

Fireheart nudged his trout. "You can have a bite of mine," he offered, before looking to Reedtail for approval. "If it's alright, of course."

Reedtail nodded. "Go ahead, Sprucekit. Can't hurt to taste!"

Wide-eyed, Sprucekit padded forward. She leaned down to sniff it, and tenderly nipped off a tiny piece of the fish. Quickly, she gulped it down. "Weird!" she said, before turning to Pinekit. "You should try some!"

Pinekit just shook her head again.

"Not talkative, huh?" Grassfoot asked.

"Not so much," Reedtail chuckled. "But Sprucekit talks enough for the both of them."

 _They seem healthy,_ Fireheart thought. _But I wonder how Mallowtail is. I haven't seen her or her kits out since…_ He frowned. _Well, since Whiteclaw died._ He looked back up at Reedtail. "How's Mallowtail holding up?"

Reedtail sighed. "Not well. She loved Whiteclaw. Her kits are alright, but… confused. I think they're more worried about why she's so sad."

Fireheart nodded solemnly. _Poor Mallowtail,_ he thought. _Maybe I should pay her a visit today. It's been a while since I have._ He leaned down to continue eating his trout.

Sprucekit only continued to pester Grassfoot and Silverstream with questions. "Is being a warrior hard?" she asked. "Have you been in many battles? Do ShadowClan cats really smell like crow-food?"

 _She reminds me of Snowbird,_ Fireheart thought with a smile.

Reedtail pulled her close with a paw. "That's enough of that!" he said, sternly, though his eyes gleamed with humor. "Come on, let me introduce you to Graypool. I'm sure she would love to tell you a story."

"Oh, yes!" Sprucekit exclaimed. She blinked up at Fireheart. "Thank you for the fresh-kill!"

The family headed off towards the elder's den.

"It's good to see that the kits are doing well," Silverstream commented, with a soft smile. "What with Leaf-bare coming and all."

Fireheart almost wanted to sigh. All anyone talked about was Leaf-bare! It seemed to be on everyone's minds just as much as ThunderClan. _Just how bad_ is _Leaf-bare?_ he wondered. He had been born just at the end of the last Leaf-bare, and only vaguely recalled watching the snow melt from the comfort and warmth of his mother's housefolk's den.

Grassfoot nodded. "I hope I can mentor one of them!" he purred. "I bet Sprucekit is a pawful, but she'd probably be pretty determined. Pine kit is awfully shy, though."

Silverstream shouldered him playfully, her irritation clearly forgotten. "I recall you being just like Sprucekit when _you_ were a kit!"

Fireheart quietly finished the last of his fish and swiped his tongue across his lips. "I'm going to visit Mallowtail," he said. "Should I bring her some fresh-kill?"

Silverstream frowned. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen her at the pile lately."

 _StarClan, she needs to eat!_ Fireheart stood. "Alright, I'll fetch something for her then. See you later."

He turned and padded back to the fresh-kill pile. He quickly grabbed the fattest fish he could find, and headed off towards the nursery.

Fireheart paused as he passed the medicine cats' den—Heavystep's furious cry startled him.

"I'm perfectly fine!" he heard the tom snap. "I'm just tired, that's all!"

"Heavystep," Mudfur sighed. "You _aren't._ You sleep more than most warriors. You shouldn't be this fatigued."

"Maybe I have a cold, then," Heavystep growled, frustrated. "But I'm a warrior! I can handle being a little tired."

 _I've never heard him so upset!_ Fireheart thought. _This must be what Silverstream was talking about._ He felt a wave of guilt for eavesdropping, but he couldn't tear himself away.

"You aren't just a 'little tired'!" Yellowfang snapped. Fireheart could easily imagine the annoyance on her face. "I've been asking the cats you've patrolled with about this. Everyone is saying you're distracted and not all there. You're _exhausted,_ and you shouldn't be."

"I'm fine!" Heavystep repeated. "What, do you want me to give up on being a warrior and become a medicine cat?"

"We could always use more healers," Mudfur meowed. His voice, as always, was calm and steady. "Though I know it isn't in your heart. But… if you keep going like this, you'll work yourself to death. It isn't a crime to retire early, Heavystep."

 _Retire!_ Fireheart blinked, surprised. _But he's so young! Heavystep might sleep a lot, but is that necessary?_

"I've only just become a warrior!" Heavystep practically shrieked. He paused, as though taking a breath. "I refuse to retire. My Clan needs me. I'm not giving up on my life just because I'm fatigued sometimes. If you think I need _more_ rest, tell Leopardfur to leave me off the dawn patrol."

Fireheart heard a shuffling inside, and he realized the warrior was about to leave. Startled, he quickly padded forward and continued on to the nursery. _Great StarClan!_ he thought. _Is there really something wrong with him?_

Hurriedly, he ducked into the nursery, still holding the fish firmly in his jaws.

"Fireheart!" Sparrowkit exclaimed. She leaped up from her nest. Mallowtail was curled up in a tight ball, with her kits all lying near her. The others looked up and gasped as they saw him. She early nudged her mother with a paw. "Look, mama, Fireheart came!"

 _They're so much bigger now!_ Fireheart thought, surprised. He hadn't seen the kits in over a half-moon, and it seemed they had all grown. _They must be ready to be apprenticed soon._ He dropped the fresh-kill and let out a purr. "Hello, Sparrowkit."

Mallowtail lifted her head tiredly. She smiled, but Fireheart could tell it was forced. "Oh. Hello."

"I've brought you some prey, Mallowtail," Fireheart said. "I'm sure you must be hungry."

"I'm not," Mallowtail meowed, with a lengthy sigh. "My kits probably are, though."

Cedarkit and Duskkit both nodded eagerly. Stormkit stayed pressed to his mother's back, a look of worry on his face.

"Mama!" Sparrowkit loudly protested. "You _have_ to eat something!"

"I'm fine, Sparrowkit," Mallowtail said, wearily. "Have all the fish you like."

The other kits looked uncertain. Fireheart stood awkwardly, unsure of what to do. _Her kits can tell she's not well._

Sparrowkit loudly harrumphed. She trodded towards the fish, ripped a chunk off with her teeth, and turned to drop it in front of her mother's nose. "Eat!" she ordered. "Fireheart brought it for you!"

Mallowtail stared blankly at the piece. A few uncomfortable moments passed. Cedarkit and Duskkit exchanged a glance before they approached the fish and started to eat.

"See?" Sparrowkit pressed. "It's tasty!"

"You eat it, Sparrowkit," Mallowtail murmured.

Fireheart shifted his weight uncomfortably. "Mallowtail…"

Sparrowkit's persistent mew cut him off. "I won't eat until _you_ do."

Mallowtail blinked, as though surprised. She looked back down at the chunk of fish again, and finally, she leaned forward, picked it up, and started to chew.

Fireheart smiled. _Sparrowkit is still as spunky as ever._ He bowed his head respectfully to Mallowtail, "I hope you feel well soon."

Mallowtail swallowed the bite of fresh-kill. Quietly, she replied, "Thank you, Fireheart."

Fireheart turned away quickly and left the den. _I feel bad for her,_ he thought. _But it can't be healthy for her kits to be cooped up in there when she isn't feeding herself and won't move… I hope they're apprenticed soon._

He stopped only a few pawsteps out of the nursery to see Yellowfang sitting outside of her den, staring at him with a stern look on her face. _Uh oh._

"Thought hiding in the nursery could save you from eavesdropping, eh?" she asked, eyes narrowed.

Fireheart ducked his head apologetically. "Sorry, Yellowfang. I was just walking by and heard Heavystep yowling and… how did you even know I was there?"

"Please!" Yellowfang scoffed. "I may be old, but I'm no fool. Try masking your scent with garlic, not a fish."

Embarrassed, the warrior flattened his ears. Before he could reply again, Yellowfang rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, you scamp, I can hardly be angry with you. Besides, how is Mallowtail faring? Mudfur won't let _me_ see her - he says I'm too sharp-tongued for that."

Fireheart flicked his tail to indicate they should walk. The pair padded towards the edge of camp, closer to the river. "She's not well," he answered. "She hasn't been out of her den and refused to eat until Sparrowkit threatened not to herself. She looked groomed, at least, but… I don't doubt that Skyheart has been doing that for her, with the way she seemed."

"Hmm." Yellowfang nodded thoughtfully. "That isn't good news, but there's still time for her to regain her strength. Grief is hard, and losing a mate is one of the most painful tragedies of all."

Fireheart blinked. _Kind words, coming from Yellowfang!_ "I'm worried about her kits," he admitted. "I don't think they've been outside since Whiteclaw's death, either, and they're getting big for the nursery."

Yellowfang twitched her whiskers. "I'll have a word with Crookedstar about it… whenever he comes out of that den of his! But that's good to know. Thank you for telling me."

Fireheard nodded. "Of course," he replied. "Sorry again for listening earlier."

Yellowfang only turned away wordlessly with a swish of her thick tail. _I wonder what she'll say to Crookedstar,_ he thought, feeling a bit nervous. _I hope I did the right thing by telling her._


	11. Chapter 10

**I have a big update: for those of you that don't already know, this story now has a blog! I decided to rewrite the first book on tumblr, because I wanted to put a lot more of my own worldbuilding into it and improve on my old writing. For now, I'm not planning on cancelling this story, but it's likely it won't be finished on here and that the story will continue instead from the blog. There will probably be more updates here for now. If you'd like to check it out, it's on tumblr as warriors-fireandwater!**

 **Additionally, though, this and all other writing is going to be on hold, as I'm starting a new story for NanoWrimo. If you've never heard of it, it's where writers try to write a 50,000 word story just in the month of November. It's going to be a murder mystery that I'll be publishing shortly, so it would be awesome if you took a look at that too!**

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and to everyone who's followed/favorited this story! I hope y'all will enjoy the new version just as much.**

* * *

 _Fireheart followed his Clanmates down the_ slope into Fourtrees. The night was cold, the coldest he'd ever felt, and he wondered how much longer it would be until snow fell.

From the looks of it, only ShadowClan had arrived to the Gathering so far. Russetstar was sitting at the foot of the Great Rock, speaking quietly with Tallpoppy, and the ShadowClan warriors were spread around the clearing. Grassfoot and Mosspelt had stayed home tonight, so he padded into the clearing with Silverthorn. Even though the tabby had snapped at him on their last patrol, they'd been keeping their shaky peace. Silverthorn was just on edge as before, though—even though Crookedstar had said he'd reached a decision a quarter-moon ago, he had wanted to wait until after the next Gathering to announce his plans.

"Biding his time," Silverthorn had remarked, irritably. "Probably just tired of arguing with everyone!"

But the tabby didn't say anything as they padded to the middle of clearing and looked around for familiar cats. After a moment, Silverthorn flicked his tail. "I'm going to talk to Ratscar and Wetfoot," he said. "You can come, I guess, but they don't like you very much."

Fireheart rolled his eyes. "I'm fine. There's a couple ShadowClan cats I wouldn't mind saying hello to." He wasn't lying—he missed Snowbird, even with how much of a nuisance she had been, and he was curious to see how Cedarpaw and Flintfang were doing. He hadn't seen either cats since the last battle, and had never thought to ask Snowbird about them.

"Fireheart!" a familiar, overzealous yowl rang out. "Oh, you _did_ end up coming!"

Fireheart couldn't help but smile as he turned around to see Snowbird racing up to him. She gave him a friendly bump on the shoulder with her head as she stopped and let out a loud purr. Although she was still small and young to be a warrior, she had grown since Fireheart had seen her last. "You're starting to fill those paws," he chuckled. "How are you?"

"Great!" she meowed, eyes bright. "Everyone's been real nice ever since I came back. They love hearing about it. Ratscar was even a little less grumpy than usual when I got home." Snowbird let out a quiet sigh. "I still have to do some apprentice tasks, since I got made a warrior really early, but there's some new apprentices that are fun to hang out with." She straightened up and twitched her whiskers. "Do you think Bluefur will come? She was kind of grumpy, too, but I'd like to see her!"

 _Still talkative as ever,_ Fireheart thought. "Maybe," he replied, as he sat down. He remembered Cedarpaw and Flintfang, and glanced back at Snowbird. "Hey, there's a cat named Cedarpaw in your Clan, right? How is he?"

"Oh!" Snowbird looked around the clearing for a moment, before she nodded towards a small group of young ShadowClan cats. "He's over there with the other apprentices. He used to talk about you _all_ the time. He thinks you're really cool."

 _Really?_ Fireheart purred quietly. He followed her gaze and watched for a moment before he spotted the young tom pouncing on a Clanmate's tail. He chuckled. "Well, I'm glad he's doing good too. I saved him from a battle once, you know."

"I _do_ know!" Snowbird meowed. "Because it was _all_ he would talk about for a moon afterwards!"

The pair talked about things of unimportance for another minute before ThunderClan appeared over the slope. Fireheart paused and looked up at them, eyes narrowed. Thistlestar stared down at the clearing for a heartbeat before he started down the hillside. A few warriors walked close to him, but many of the others ran down the slope to join the Gathering.

There was a clear change in the air as soon as they arrived, and both Fireheart and Snowbird noticed it. Nearby RiverClanners bristled and hissed, and the air was thick with tension and the scent of their anger.

"What's got your Clanmates' tails in a twist?" Snowbird whispered.

"ThunderClan has killed two of our warriors in the past moon," Fireheart growled. He couldn't resist the feeling of anger burning in his chest. Whiteclaw's death was an accident, but he had heard over and over about what they had done to Frogleap's body. "The first they threw in the river so it would be harder to find the body."

Snowbird stiffened, before she shrank back. She looked fearfully at a ThunderClan cat as they passed by, seemingly oblivious to the tension. "That's terrible," she murmured. "Sounds like something Brokenstar would do."

 _Yes,_ Fireheart thought coldly. _It does._ His gaze followed Thistlestar as the tom padded to the Great Rock and joined the leaders there. Crookedstar's cool expression betrayed nothing. _What is he thinking?_ Fireheart wondered.

He tore his gaze away to see who else had come. There was Mistyfoot and Stonefur, Mousefur, Darkstripe, Tigerclaw, of course, a couple new apprentices… and then came Ravenpaw and Sandbird, at the back of the group.

Ravenpaw seemed to have caught his gaze, for he nudged Sandbird and then pointedly stared at Fireheart. Sandbird turned to stare at him oddly.

Fireheart shuffled his paws. _Is she going to come over or just stand there like that?_

She continued to stare for a few moments before she shook herself and padded towards Fireheart. Ravenpaw followed, looking confused.

Fireheart smiled as the pair approached. "So Tigerclaw didn't claw out your whiskers for almost falling off the gorge?" he asked, teasingly.

Sandbird glared, and he swallowed back a laugh. _What's her deal?_

Ravenpaw coughed awkwardly. "Hey, Fireheart. Didn't you save Sandbird from that?"

Snowbird looked at him, eyes narrowed. "What?" she demanded. "You did _another_ cool thing and didn't tell me?"

"It kind of happened when my other Clanmate got killed," Fireheart muttered, and Snowbird flattened her ears as she turned to glare right back at Sandbird.

"What?" Sandbird demanded as she stared at the younger she-cat. "I didn't do it, and Ravenflight is a medicine cat. Save your anger for someone else." She turned her fierce look back to Fireheart. "Filling an apprentice's head with lies, huh?"

Fireheart ignored the jab and glanced at Ravenflight. "Raven _flight_ , huh?" he asked. "So you're a full medicine cat now? Congratulations."

Ravenflight didn't seem excited. "I kind of didn't have much of a choice," he muttered. "Seeing as our Clans aren't exactly getting along right now."

"And _I'm_ not an apprentice!" Snowbird piped up. "I'll have you know I'm a warrior! A ShadowClan warrior!"

Ravenflight made an attempt to smile at her, but Sandbird and Fireheart both ignored her. "What?" Fireheart demanded. "Did I put a toad in your nest and forget about it?"

"You might as well have!" Sandbird burst out. "You're such a stupid furball. I don't even know why I came over here."

Ravenflight whispered loudly, "You said, and I quote, you wanted to 'rip his whiskers out'."

"Shut up, Ravenflight," Sandbird growled.

"You always talk like that to your medicine cat?" Fireheart shot back. "Yellowfang and Mudfur would have _your_ whiskers for that."

"Who cares what that flat-face thinks?" Sandbird spat. "She couldn't even teach her other apprentice to cure a cold."

"Hey, now…" Ravenflight tried, weakly. Snowbird just looked back and forth between the two.

"Seems like ThunderClan just doesn't teach respect to _their_ warriors," Fireheart growled. "But I guess that's not surprising, seeing as what you lot did to my Clanmate's _corpse_ after slaughtering him."

Sandbird parted her jaws to reply, but no words came out. For a heartbeat, her claws slid out, but she sheathed them again and snapped her jaws shut.

"I think we should go," Ravenflight mumbled. "S-sorry about this."

Sandbird turned away and Ravenflight followed her across the clearing. She paused, said something to Ravenflight, and whipped back around. She hurried back to Fireheart, and for a heartbeat, he thought she would attack him. "You know what?" she hissed. Her voice fell to hardly above a whisper. "You want to hear about my side of things? Stay behind after the Gathering and I'll tell you _exactly_ what it's like living with that leader." She turned around and raced back to Ravenflight.

 _What?_ Fireheart blinked, confused.

"That was weird," Snowbird whispered. "Are you going to?"

"Of course not," Fireheart quickly replied. That was against the warrior code—he thought, at least. He wasn't actually sure. The code said that he could have friends outside his Clan, but what were the rules about meeting them in a technically neutral territory? _Great StarClan, why must Clan rules and politics be so confusing?_ He shook his head. Sandbird was Clanborn, so she wouldn't propose that unless it was okay. _Right?_

Before Snowbird could reply, a yowl from the Great Rock cuts through the air, and conversations drop. He hadn't even noticed WindClan arrive during his bickering with Sandbird.

Russetstar dipped her head to Tallstar. "Would you like to speak first?" she offered. "It has been moons since we've had WindClan present."

Tallstar's eyes narrowed in the slightest. "Yes," he says, smoothly. "It has been many moons since my Clan was chased from the territories."

Russetstar didn't flinch, however, and simply stared back evenly.

Tallstar wrapped his long tail around his paws. He twitched an ear before he spoke. "WindClan has returned to our rightful place on the moor," he says, voice cool. He betrays no anger, but Fireheart can't help but wonder if he feels it. _We might have all brought them back, but it must be hard to sit in peace with ShadowClan after what happened._ "I am aware that other Clans hunted on our lands in our absence. While I understand why this happened, such intrusion will not be tolerated by my warriors any longer. Our Clan has been able to regain our strength since our return."

Fireheart narrowed his eyes curiously. _He's being very specific about their strength. I understand it, but has something happened?_

Russetstar seemed to notice the same thing, and she cut in sharply. "Pardon me if I misunderstand, but you seem to imply 'such intrusions' have continued."

Tallstar gazed steadily at her. "My patrols have been scenting ShadowClan at the edge of our territory," he said, voice dark. "It makes me wonder why ShadowClan would agree to bring us back only to trespass on our land."

"Clearly," Russetstar growls, "You were not told that it was _my_ wish to bring you home. I had to persuade the other leaders. You must have forgotten ShadowClan scent in your absence, Tallstar, because _my_ warriors stick to the Code."

"My Clan seems to recall differently," Tallstar snaps. "Some of us still bear the scars of the attack used to chase us out."

"Please…" Crookedstar sighed. "Let's move on."

Russetstar lashed her tail. "I will not have my warriors accused of trespassing!"

Tallpoppy stood. "Our Clan only followed Brokenstar because we had to!" she shouted. "We banished those who truly followed his ways!"

Growls began to rise from the ShadowClan cats. Fireheart glanced down at Snowbird, who looked angry, but was quiet. "Has anything happened?" he asked.

"Of course not!" she hissed, keeping her voice low. "I don't know why Tallstar is lying."

"Excuse me," Thistlestar meowed, slowly. "If I may. Perhaps, Russetstar, you do not have as good a hold on your cats as you think."

Russetstar turned her furious gaze to the massive tom. "What?"

Tigerclaw stared up at her from his place at the foot of the stone. "We have been scenting ShadowClan cats as well," he growled.

"My warriors have not trespassed!" Russetstar snarled, bristling with fury. "I will _not_ have lies spread about my Clan!"

Thistlestar seemed unfazed, and even lifted a paw to draw his tongue over it. "We know your cats have been crossing the borders. Dare you accuse _my_ noble warriors of lying?"

It was ThunderClan's turn to yowl their protests. Crookedstar stood, frowning. "Everyone!" he tried to call. "Please, we must maintain the peace!"

Suddenly, the clearing was plunged into darkness. Fireheart bristled fearfully, utterly surprised and confused. _What's happening?_ He leaned back to stare at the sky. Dark clouds, seemingly out of nowhere, had shrouded the moon and the stars.

"It's a sign!" A ThunderClan elder wailed.

"StarClan is angry!" he heard Graypool cry. "The peace has been broken!"

Crookedstar cast Russetstar and Tallstar a furious look. "Your fighting has brought this Gathering to an early end," he spat. "By the will of StarClan, this meeting is over!"

 _I don't understand!_ Fireheart thought. _StarClan covered the moon?_

Tallstar leaped down from the Great Rock without another word. Russetstar stared down furiously after him, before she climbed down the opposite way. Thistlestar sat there the longest, completely unfazed, before he neatly jumped down and flicked his tail for Tigerclaw to follow.

"I have to go," Snowbird murmured. Even she was sobered by the dark clouds overhead.

"See you," Fireheart replied, still keeping a wary on the sky above. Though his eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, the clouds unnerved him. They had appeared out of nowhere and seemed not to be leaving.

He padded towards his Clanmates, but hesitated. Fireheart recalled Sandbird's request. _What do I do?_ he wondered. _I can't just tell them all I'm going hang back and catch up with a cat from an enemy Clan._

Fireheart looked over his shoulder to where the ThunderClan cats were grouping together. Sandbird stood at the edge of the group, staring pointedly at him. _If I don't stay, it'll eat at me for a while,_ he reckoned. _I'll make up an excuse and double back. Hopefully she doesn't think I left for good._

"Come along," Crookedstar growled. "We might as well get home as soon as we can." He led the way towards the slope, back the way they'd first come.

Fireheart followed, keeping to the back of the patrol. The cat closest to him was Sunfish, so he picked up his pace for a moment to walk beside her. "I'm going to make dirt," he told her. "I'll catch up. Just didn't want anyone to think I'd gone missing."

Sunfish nodded and yawned. "Alright. See you."

Fireheart nodded to her and slowed to a halt, until his Clanmates were far head. He turned around and walked as quickly as he could without running, and was soon back at the clearing. It was empty now—the cats had left as fast as possible. He walked to the center of the clearing, feeling out of place in the gathering place. It was almost eerie when it wasn't full of cats, especially so with the moon still covered by thick clouds. He sat down and watched the slope that headed towards ThunderClan. _Is she coming back?_

A few more minutes went by. Eventually, Sandbird's ginger pelt appeared at the top of the slope. _She did!_

As she hurried back down the slope, he stood and called, "I thought you weren't going to come back!"

"Be quiet!" Sandbird hissed. "There might be cats still near."

Fireheart heaved a loud sigh and sat down again. "Alright. What did you want to talk about?"

Sandbird sat down a fox-length away. He still sense a wave of anger from her, but he didn't understand why she was so moody. After a moment, she answered. "Why are you telling cats we murdered Whiteclaw?"

Fireheart narrowed his eyes. "Because ThunderClan did!"

"No, we didn't!" she shot back. "It was an accident and you know it. An accident that wouldn't have happened if your patrol hadn't attacked Bluefur."

Fireheart flattened his ears. She was right, but now she was acting like it was _his_ fault! "I was _with_ Bluefur!" he protested. "I tried to stop Leopardfur."

"Wow," Sandbird said, a thick note of sarcasm in her voice. "It's almost like it was a complex situation where the blame doesn't fall neatly on one cat—or Clan!"

"Well!" Fireheart tried, lamely. "She wouldn't have attacked if your Clanmates didn't kill Frogleap!"

It was Sandbird's turn to flatten her ears. "No cat wanted that to happen," she said, tone softening. "We all wanted to let you collect his body. Thistlestar forced a warrior to dump his body in the river."

It made sense, but it didn't make Fireheart feel any better. _I doubt my Clanmates would be eased, either._ "That changes nothing," he meowed. His tone wasn't as hard, either, but he wasn't relenting. "Frogleap had family. They're still grieving for him."

"Oh, mouse-dung!" Sandbird swore, harshly. "Every cat has family. You think _I_ haven't lost family? I _told_ you that I lost my father. Spottedleaf was family, too. Do you know how many cats ThunderClan has lost to RiverClan over the last few seasons? To ShadowClan? Yours isn't the only to suffer."

Fireheart didn't have a retort. He lowered his gaze and sighed again, softly. "Why?" he asked, after a moment. "Why does there have to be so much fighting? Why do so many cats have to die for pride and honor and strips of land?" The answer had eluded him since he'd first heard of the Clans. He understood that it could be necessary, like with Brokenstar, but sometimes it felt so senseless.

Sandbird stared hard at him. "It's more than just pride and honor and 'strips of land'," she meowed. "We fight for _survival._ So that our kits have a better chance for an easier life than we had. So they can grow old and have kits of their own. So the Clans can continue for generations to come!" she spoke passionately, and Fireheart felt a prick of guilt. "And yeah, some of it _is_ for honor. What's a warrior without it? It's why we live by the Code! StarClan, Fireheart, I know you aren't Clanborn, but you can't be foolish enough to think territory is just useless pieces of land."

Fireheart felt himself deflate. Any last will to argue was gone. "I guess I hadn't thought about all that," he replied. "It's just… I don't know. There's so much loss for all of it."

Sandbird nodded. "I know. But it's how we live, even if we don't like it. ThunderClan doesn't exactly have such a bloodthirst like you probably think we do. There are _cats_ that do, but not _Clans_."

"Like Thistlestar?"

Sandbird sighed. "Yeah." She stared up at the sky. An almost sorrowful look was on her face. "Like him."

Fireheart shuffled his paws. The cold was beginning to gnaw painfully at his paws. "Maybe we should go home," he said. "It's freezing."

Sandbird nodded. "We should. It's not… we just shouldn't be here in the first place. But it was… nice to talk." She stood and started to turn.

Without thinking, Fireheart quickly stood. "Wait!" he exclaimed. "Can't we just meet again?"

Sandbird looked back at him, eyes wide. "What?"

"Well…" Fireheart looked down. "It _was_ good to talk to you. I like talking to you when you aren't just trying to rip out my whiskers. Why can't we talk more?"

Sandbird quickly shook her head. "No, we can't—"

"Why not?" Fireheart asked. "Cats can have friends outside their Clan. Talking won't hurt anyone. It's not like we're stealing prey or anything."

Sandbird stared at him for a long moment. She quickly looked back ahead and he watched her shoulders rise and fall as she took a breath and sighed. "Fine. I'll meet you at Sunningrocks tomorrow night."

Fireheart grinned. "Okay!"

He turned away and quickly hurried back to the slope towards RiverClan.

* * *

The following morning brought the first snow of Leaf-bare.

Fireheart awoke to see the white flakes falling silently through the mouth of the den. The den was warm with the bulk of bodies, but he could feel the cold air blowing in. He lifted his head curiously, but tucked his paws underneath him.

Heavystep was already awake beside him, watching the snow fall. He purred quietly and glanced at Fireheart. "You ever seen snow?"

"When I was a kit," he replied. "But I hardly remember it."

"Everything changes," Heavystep meowed. "Leaf-bare is so… quiet."

"Not with you two talking," Vixenfrost grumbled. She lifted her chin from where she was curled up with Shadepelt. "Is it dawn already?"

"Past dawn," muttered Loudbelly, without opening his eyes. "The patrol already left."

"Ugh," groaned Silverthorn. "Must everyone talk _in_ the den while the rest of us are trying to sleep?"

Blackclaw, who had one of the center nests, raised his head and growled. "You youngsters are the ones talking. Get out and do something if you're so awake."

Fireheart prodded Grassfoot, who had a nest beside him. "Come on, lazy lump," he meowed. "Let's go fishing."

Grassfoot kicked him softly and rolled over. "Don't wanna," he mumbled. "Tired."

"You didn't even go to the Gathering," Silverthorn said, rolling his eyes. "Whatever. I'll go. Come on, Heavystep. These dormice can sleep in while _we_ hunt."

"Hey!" Petaldust retorted, opening an eye. "Watch your mouth, Silverthorn. This dormouse won't hesitate to get up and box you over the ears."

"You'd have to get out of your nest for that!" Silverthorn shot back, but he hurriedly scrambled to his paws and left the den.

Fireheart and Heavystep laughed quietly before they got up and followed him. Beetlenose's soft snort could still be heard as they left. "The young warriors are noisy as apprentices, I swear!"

"Running from Petaldust, huh?" Heavystep teased. "Scared of her, Silverthorn?"

"I'm not _scared_ ," Silverthorn meowed. "But she _would_ get up and box any cat over the ears, and you know it!"

Outside, it was much colder, and as Heavystep said, it was very quiet. There was no birdsong, no rustle of leaves. They could only hear the quiet flow of the river. The snow wasn't thick, hardly even a mouse-length deep, and the toms' paws crunched on it as they walked.

Crookedstar was sitting outside his den, Graypool beside him. The two old cats were looking up at the sky, but both averted their attention to the three warriors as they passed.

"Going hunting?" the leader meowed.

Heavystep dipped his head respectfully. "Yup. We're fishing. Hopefully the river isn't too cold for the fish."

"Well, good luck," Crookedstar purred. Graypool twitched her whiskers as though amused and nodded in agreement, but said nothing.

They went on, and passed through the reeds to get to the shore. "I'll go a bit downstream," Heavystep meowed.

Silverthorn flicked an ear in acknowledgement. The silver tom padded up to the water's edge and sat down. Fireheart wordlessly padded away, heading a few fox-lengths upstream to find a spot to sit. He gazed out across the river to Sunningrocks, and for a moment, he straightened up, feeling a little rush of excitement. He'd meet Sandbird there later tonight. _It'll be nice to talk to her without fighting about something,_ he thought.

* * *

The toms had sat there for ages, waiting for fish, before Silverthorn finally let out a loud groan. "This is useless! It's almost sun-high, and we don't have anything."

Fireheart shook his head. "I haven't seen so much as a minnow!"

The reeds behind them rustled, and Leopardfur padded out. "I was wondering when you three would realize that you aren't going to catch anything."

"What?" Silverthorn demanded. "Have you been watching us like apprentices?"

Leopardfur snorted. "All of the senior warriors have been laughing since you left. Anyone who's lived through a Leaf-bare as a warrior knows fish all stay at the bottom of the river."

"No one told us," Fireheart muttered.

Heavystep padded up from his spot, looking confused. "What's going on now?"

"The fish are all at the bottom of the river and everyone thought it would be hilarious to let us waste the morning sitting here!" Silverthorn meowed loudly, clearly trying to restrain himself from yowling at his deputy.

Leopardfur smiled in the slightest—it was a rare sight. "If you want to catch fish, you'll have to dive in. Though I'm sure Beetlenose and Blackclaw will stop laughing if you come back with fresh-kill."

Heavystep growled. "I'm pushing Blackclaw in the river the next time I patrol with him!"

Silverthorn stared back at the river, a deep scowl on his face. "Well, _I'm_ going to catch a fish and leave it in his nest!"

"Suit yourself," Heavystep muttered. "If everyone else is going to just sleep the day away, so am I!" He padded past Leopardfur, back into camp.

"Good luck," Leopardfur chuckled, before she turned away and followed Heavystep.

"Well?" Silverthorn demanded. "What are you going to do, Fireheart?"

Fireheart frowned. He didn't much like the idea of jumping in the river when it was this cold, but if meant shutting up two of the most agonizing warriors in the Clan, perhaps it would be worth it. "I'd like to wipe the smug looks off their faces," he replied, with a flick of his tail.

Silverthorn smirked. "Finally something we can agree on."

Both toms stared at the water, neither eager to be the first to head in. After a few moments passed, Silverthorn twitched his whiskers and sighed. "Well, let's get it over with."

The two toms trudged into the river. The chill gripped at Fireheart immediately, but he gritted his teeth and continued in until he was up to his neck in water. Silverthorn was the first to dive quietly under the water. Fireheart took a breath before he ducked his head under and pushed himself forward into deeper water. He forced his eyes open, despite the freezing water, to try and spot a fish. Silverthorn was already swimming down towards the bottom of the center of the river, and Fireheart followed, veering off slightly to follow the current. As he went deeper, he did spot a few scattered fish very close to the bottom. Though they seemed alive, they hardly moved any more than to hold themselves in place against the current. He surfaced once, taking in another breath, before he plunged under again.

Although the water was painfully cold, it was surprisingly easy to catch the docile fish. He only snatched up one large trout before returning to the shore to shake himself a bit drier and finish off the fish. Silverthorn took only a bit longer to return.

When Silverthorn had killed his catch, he dropped it at his paws. "Th-th-that'll sh-show them," he muttered out between shivers.

Fireheart found that he was trembling from the cold as well. "B-B-Blackclaw and B-Beetlenose a-are g-g-going to b-be s-s-so sh-shocked."

"I'm f-f-freezing," Silverthorn stuttered. "C-come on. I-I n-need to g-get dry."

Fireheart didn't reply. He simply picked up his catch and slowly followed Silverthorn back through the reeds. On one hand, he'd caught the fish, but on the other, he felt like his paws were about to go completely numb.

The Clan was only slightly more active than before they'd left. Reedtail and Shadepelt were talking quietly to Leopardfur outside the warriors' den, and Blackclaw was eating a piece of fresh-kill, but other than them, camp was still quiet.

"There's Blackclaw," Silverthorn growled around his mouthful of fish. He flicked his tail in irritation and led the way towards the warrior. The two toms padded over, and the older warrior glanced up before smirking.

"How was fishing?" Blackclaw chuckled.

Silverthorn practically threw the fish at him as he flung it to the ground. "Fantastic," he spat. "We figured we'd let you know how much of a _great_ time we had, since we heard you just couldn't get over how _hilarious_ it was that two of the most inexperienced warriors were the only ones up and providing for the Clan in Leaf-bare."

Fireheart could hardly resist laughing as Blackclaw's smile turned into a scowl. Silverthorn shook out his wet pelt again before going on. "I sure hope you rested those old bones well while we caught food for Graypool and the queens."

Fireheart dropped his catch and nodded along with him. It was impossible to not join in—he didn't think of himself as a petty cat, but Blackclaw had been one of his longest tormentors, and he finally had something to rub in his face. "It must be hard to be one of the most senior warriors in the Clan," he added. "At least you can rest easy knowing us youngsters are able to do the hard work."

Blackclaw sat up fully and curled his lip. "Remember who you're speaking to," he growled.

"Oh, I certainly do, old-timer," Silverthorn meowed, with a mocking dip of his head. "Don't worry yourself too much if you can't get up tomorrow, either! I've heard plenty from Graypool about how aching bones are such a pain. We're plenty able to catch fish for the Clan while you rest up in the cozy den."

Fireheart nodded again. "Oh, yes," he said. "No need to worry about keeping your strength up when there's plenty of young warriors to hunt for the Clan in the freezing cold."

Blackclaw let out a snarl, and Fireheart almost thought he would strike out at one of them. The smoky tom gritted his teeth before he whipped around and stalked towards Crookedstar's den.

As he disappeared inside, Silverthorn burst out laughing. "Hah! Did you see his face? He won't be laughing at _us_ again anytime soon." He smirked. "I didn't think you had it in you."

Fireheart grinned for a moment. It _did_ feel good to finally show up Blackclaw. But he quickly frowned as he stared at Crookedstar's den. "He's gone off to complain to Crookedstar, though."

"Ah, let him," Silverthorn said with a shrug. "What, is Crookedstar going to punish us for getting up before every other cat in the Clan and hunting? Yeah, right. Blackclaw is just going to make himself look like an even bigger fool."

 _I guess he's right._ Fireheart looked down at his catch. "I'll take this to Mallowtail and Skyheart."

"Alright. I'm going back to the den. I'm freezing!" Silverthorn picked up his catch and padded towards the pile.

Fireheart watched him go. _That wasn't so bad,_ he thought, before shivering again. _But I am freezing. I'm getting back to my nest after I feed them too!_


End file.
